Sketches and Scars
by FlightofSilver
Summary: A ship gets lost at sea and its passengers find themselves on a strange island. A girl finds they aren't the first to make it their home. First Bionicle fic, somewhat OC-centric. Violence, blood. Kind of AU
1. Chapter 1

My first ever Bionicle fanfic to be published. Okay, I am almost completely redoing the first chapter, because the original was just cringe-inducingly awful and I could have done SO much better.

Disclaimer: Bionicle belongs to Lego, Greg Farshtey, and not me. I do own the humans, though.

* * *

"Oof!" She hit the ground and rolled. She struggled to regain her bearings as heavy footsteps approached. She looked up to see red-orange eyes glowing angrily over her. She reached out and wrapped her shaky fingers around the handle of her knife.

**_BZZZZZ! BZZZZZ! BZZZZZ!_**

"...Ugh."

Linda sat up and blearily flailed one of her arms around until her hand met smooth, vibrating plastic. Once she found it, her fingers grasped it, lifted it, and chucked it away. The high-pitched buzzing gave way to blessed silence, and Linda settled down into soft, warm bliss again.

"Land! There's land ahead!"

All thoughts of sleep forgotten, Linda kicked her blanket off and raced out of her cabin into the sunlight, pausing only to put her jacket on over her t-shirt and get her shoes on. Without waiting for her eyes to adjust, she ran straight to the rail and gripped it with both hands. The land before her took her breath away. She would have killed to be able to explore it. But that wasn't going to happen, not while—

"HEY! YOU $!%^$&$%! GET OVER HERE!"

-not while THEY were in charge of her. She rolled her eyes, pushed away from the rail, and took three steps in their direction. They couldn't make her come all the way over there.

"All the way, stupid!"

Linda responded by sitting down right there in the middle of the deck, arms and legs folded. They were out in the open, where everyone could see them; she was safe.

Her foster father was about to go on a cussing spree when someone called out that it was time to get off the boat. Linda finally stood up and followed behind him obediently, just as any good foster child should.

* * *

"More humans?"

"How many did you see?"

"A couple. And a craft of that size is big enough to carry hundreds."

"Hundreds? One was ever-more than nastybad enough. How can we hope to fight-handle hundreds?"

The six armored beings couldn't think of any answer to that for a long while. One of them, covered in shades of red, answered, "We'll just let them think we aren't here. At least not until we can find some weakness of theirs. Now all of us should go and look after our villages."

The other five nodded, said their goodbyes, and all left in different directions.

* * *

Linda grunted under the weight of the wooden wall. When it was finally up, she wiped her brow, swung her strained arms back and forth, and straightened the sleeves of her jacket. The only thing about all this construction work was that it left her foster parents too exhausted to do anything but gripe, which was easily tuned out, and herself too tired to bother them anyway.

She tossed a longing glance at the fantastic jungle less than a mile away. There was no way those two…people who called themselves parents would let her go anywhere. She smirked and edged away from the work site. It's not like anyone would miss her, right?

"Excuse me, miss, but there is still work to do."

She grimaced. Darn it. Oh, well, it was worth a try. She shrugged off her failure and turned to see who had caught her. A blonde woman in her mid-thirties stood with thumbs hooked in her jean pockets and aimed a "where-do-you-think-_you're-_going?" look at the would-be slacker.

Linda smiled innocently. The woman sighed, "Don't give me that look. I know you were trying to sneak off. You'll have time for that later."

Linda's smile vanished. _No, I won't. _

The woman noticed and leaned forward, frowning. "Something the matter, kid?"

"Nah," she shrugged again.

"You expect me to believe that?" The woman arched her eyebrow and jerked her head. "Come on. Help me get my clinic up, and we can talk. Let's start with names. Mine is Anna Jeanine, but I would prefer A.J. You are?"

"Linda." The girl followed A.J.

"So, Linda," A.J. began. "Grab that box there, would ya? And be careful, that stuff could save someone's life."

Struggling under the load, Linda peered in and caught a glimpse of some of the stuff she saw in a doctor's office. Stethoscope, ear probe, and whatnot. "You're a doctor?"

"More like a medical scientist, really, but I know enough to treat diseases." A.J. smiled as she easily carried a couple boxes that both looked heavier than Linda's one box. "It's a good thing I was transferring to another clinic location on that boat. You never know with mysterious islands like this."

"Do you think we're staying?"

"You mean, for good?" A.J. glanced at her and nodded. "I think so. The boat is out of fuel and the seawater has rendered the communications useless, so I don't see how we can find where we are."

"So this place is uninhabited?"

"Presumably. This island didn't show up on any map or GPS."

They arrived at a hut and A.J. set her boxes down. Linda did the same. "Alright, _quid pro quo_," A.J. told her. Linda gave a blank stare. "Return the favor," A.J. explained. "You asked me a question, so let me ask you one. What's got you down?"

Linda cleared her throat. "Umm, hey, where do you want this?"

"Over there. I asked you a question. Linda," A.J. reminded her.

"I…dunno," Linda shrugged, feeling helpless.

"Look, you can tell me anything," A.J. extended her hands to her sides. "I won't tell anyone."

Linda looked down and stared at the equipment in the box at her feet. "My foster parents never let me go anywhere."

A.J. raised her eyebrows. "That's all? I can help with that. What would your foster parents say about you having a job?"

Linda looked up so sharply she almost got whiplash. "You could do that?"

"Why not? I could always use an assistant around here. Especially to go looking for plant specimens to study for medicinal properties."

"You're AWESOME!" Linda cried, throwing her arms around the woman as if they had been friends for years.

* * *

In the nearby trees, a tall metallic-looking green figure watched as the nastybad creatures known as Humans built themselves a home on an island that wasn't theirs. He had known they were numerous, but he'd had no idea there were so many different kinds, shapes and sizes. It was a little frightening, even to him. He grimaced as one of the bigger ones accidentally crushed his thumb with a tool and blurted a long, loud, and surprisingly creative stream of ugly words.

"I know it badhurts, but how does that help?" he wondered. He jumped to another branch and went to return to his village.

* * *

For the next week and a half, Linda's life went relatively well, learning to help A.J. with her duties. However, one thing kept Linda from having a truly good life.

One day, Linda arrived late at A.J.'s clinic.

"Sorry I'm late!" she exclaimed as she burst in. "The fosters held me up again."

"Mm-hm," A.J. nodded slightly but didn't look up from her microscope, until Linda passed by within arm's reach. Her arm shot out, seized Linda's arm, and shoved up her jacket sleeve. Linda shouted angrily and A.J. just sighed and shook her hand sadly at the sight that greeted her.

Two long, fresh horizontal slashes streaked from three inches above her wrist to the inside of her elbow.

* * *

There, that's a bit better. At least there are the lines showing when there are scene changes. And I like the new beginning better. Go ahead, read the rest.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow. took me a while to upload this. Well, it's here now. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own the human characters.

* * *

"A.J.!"

The woman ordered Linda to sit, laid her arm faceup on a counter and turned away to get some supplies from a cabinet. Linda tried to push her sleeve back down while the woman's back was turned.

"Don't let anything touch those!" A.J. chided without so much as a glance away from the shelf.

Linda sullenly returned her hand to her side. _I'll bet she's raised kids. She didn't even move her head. _

"Linda," A.J. walked back to the work counter, carrying bandages in one hand and disinfectant in the other. "When you accepted my job offer, you could have told me I'd have to use some supplies on you."

"You don't," Linda tried to pull her arm away, but A.J. grasped her wrist and held it while she dabbed the wounds with disinfectant-soaked gauze.

"Yes I do," She corrected her gently. "Now who gave you these?"

Linda's only answer was a slight scowl. A.J. figured it out anyway. "Your foster parents did this to you, didn't they?"

Linda's scowl deepened, and she nodded. AJ released her hold on Linda's wrist and clenched her fist. "I'm sorry, honey."

"You didn't do anything," Linda answered. "You're the only person worth being civil to I've met for a long time."

A.J. set down the gauze and picked up the bandages. "Well, I'm honored. And I'm doing something about those two…I shouldn't call them that. I don't swear."

Linda smiled halfheartedly, but her eyes were sad. "I'd rather you didn't. Whenever people know my fosters are abusive, they start going, 'Oh, that poor little girl. What a shame,' and that's all they do. It makes me sick. I'd rather have them think I'm a cutter."

AJ frowned, but nodded after a while. "All right, I'll leave it be…for now. So how does this feel?" She finished wrapping the bandage around Linda's arm. "Not too tight?"

"Nope. It's fine."

"Good. And if you get any more cuts like that, don't cover them up, okay? That'll only make them worse."

"'Kay." Linda pushed her jacket sleeve over the bandage. "So what do ya want me to do first?"

"Actually, I think the clinic is running fine. Would you like the day off?"

Linda made a face. "No thank you. My fosters get mad if I'm not at home, work, or school." When A.J. raised an eyebrow questioningly, she added, "They think I'll make them look bad if I'm not in a controlled situation."

A.J. shook her head. "I fail to see the logic in their thinking. Okay, how about you go out, collect samples of the plants and things out there, and bring them back for me to study?"

"Huh?"

"The things we've got now won't last forever. We need to find what kind of things we can make into medicine when these supplies run out."

Linda jumped to her feet. "Okay!"

A.J. handed Linda a shoulder bag with a smile. "You can explore until sunset. There's also a sketch pad and pencil in there if you see something you can't take with you."

"Right. Thanks, A," Linda slung the bag over her shoulder and darted out the back door with a wave. The words, "You rock!" reached the woman just before the door banged shut.

AJ waved back, even though Linda was already gone, and went to her work with a smile.

* * *

Linda walked through the vast jungle, taking in the awesome sights. Thousands of huge trees, some with wider trunks than she was tall. Vines everywhere that looked more like green rope. Flowers as big as her head. The branches and leaves above filtered the sunlight. Linda was definitely going to have to find some way to thank A.J. for this. Maybe take over the clinic for a day so A.J. could see all this for herself. Yes, that could work…as long as no one needed her.

She spotted a fern-like plant and carefully plucked a leaf from it, placing it gently in her bag, beside an odd-looking fruit.

Something in the trees overhead rustled. Linda quickly hid in the undergrowth and looked up into the tree branches. A metallic, humanoid creature jumped from a thick branch and grabbed a vine in midleap, swinging gracefully to the nearest branch. His feet hit the wood perfectly, causing it to dip and launching off again at just the right time to take full advantage of its propulsion. The grace and skill took Linda's breath away.

_I wonder where it…he's going, _she thought. She gripped the sketch pad tightly and followed the tall, acrobatic being, careful not to let him see her. He continued his monkey-like mode of travel, oblivious to the awestruck human. He landed on a branch and stayed stationary for a moment, looking around. Linda crouched under the cover of a bush, continuing to watch him scan the jungle below. She got an idea and flipped open the sketch pad. Pulling the pencil out of her pocket, she rapidly sketched in the being's pose: legs in a crouch, one hand grasping the limb underneath, head high and alert.

When she looked up again, her shoulders sagged. The green acrobat had vanished, a swinging tree branch his only trace. Trying to shrug off her lack of a model, she closed the book and went to put it in her bag.

_Wait a second,_ her mind panicked. _I don't have it!_ She looked around frantically. She had completely forgotten it when she'd started following the metallic creature. She backtracked and sighed with relief at the sight of the bag lying in the brush. She picked it up, placed the sketch pad inside, and started for home, casting glances around the trees.

Up above, several sets of glowing eyes watched her cautiously. While she had watched the tall green being without him realizing he had a spectator, it was now her turn to be unknowingly watched. The watchers whispered,

"Should we sneak-attack it?"

"Not yet. If it badhurts something, then we quick-attack. If not, let it go."

* * *

A.J. looked over Linda's findings: eight leaves, six fruits, and five loose roots from dead trees. "Not bad. Next time, though, don't be afraid to take anything you can pick up and fit in the bag. Even an interesting rock."

Linda raised an eyebrow. "Rocks? For medicine?"

A.J. shrugged. "Why not? Salt is a rock. Technically. Besides, I think this island has a lot of interesting properties."

"Sure has cool wildlife," Linda muttered.

"What? You saw wildlife? What did it look like?" A.J. asked. Linda opened the sketch pad. "Well, I'm not really sure I should call it 'wildlife'," she said and showed the half-finished sketch. A.J. looked at it closely. "You're right. It looks like it acts like a human. Probably intelligent enough to be insulted by the term 'wildlife'."

Linda grinned. "You should have seen him move! He was like," She waved her hands excitedly, "A shiny green Tarzan."

AJ raised an eyebrow. "I'm intrigued." She handed the sketch pad to Linda. "Here, this is yours. You think you can finish this sketch by memory?"

Linda thought for a moment, then answered, "Sure. Give me a minute and let me try."

Linda grabbed a pencil off the counter, stared at the crude figure. She called up a mental image of the being, then set to work copying it onto the page.

A.J. leaned over to watch her, and blinked in surprise while Linda smiled as she placed a few final touches to its armor. "There. Done," Linda held up the page.

"Linda, this is…just incredible," A.J. exclaimed as she took the paper. "First, I can't imagine such a creature in nature. Second, you clearly have a gift for drawing."

Linda shrugged. "I guess…"

The door slammed open. "There's Tyrone," Linda muttered, a sour look on her face. "Only he can slam doors when opening them. Coming!"

"Linda," A.J/ told her. "Be good for them. I don't want you getting hurt."

Linda grinned. "Sure." She trotted over to the front door where an angry-looking man stood. She took one look at his face and asked, "So what did I do now?"

Tyrone just glared at her.

* * *

That night, Linda lay on her stomach on her bed and opened the sketch book she'd been given. She looked at the figure she'd seen and sketched in the jungle. She propped her chin on her hand and looked out the window. _I wonder what else is out there…_

She yawned and let her head fall to the side onto the book. _I'm gonna find out._

_

* * *

_Well? How'd I do with the treespeak? I thought it would be easier, since I sometimes speak it. It wasn't. I promise the Toa will make bigger appearances in the future. Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, I was reading InTheLight1396's stories and loved the quotes from songs she put in. So, I'm doing it too.

"Maybe this path we're taking could really be the road to breaking free. Are you with me?"~ _One Little Miracle, _Hawk Nelson

Linda has more run-ins with the wildlife.

* * *

The next day, Linda was out again, collecting flowers, leaves, fruit, and rocks. _Okay, island, _she thought with a smile._ whatever you've got for me, I'm ready for it._

_**Squilch**_

She looked down and her smile was replaced by a grimace. "Ugh," she muttered. "I see you've got mud." Cold, soupy, almost knee-deep mud that seeped into her shoes and soaked her socks. Just the thing to wreck her day.

She had no choice but to get through it. She moved forward, lifting her knee to shoulder height before extending her leg as far as possible and lowering it slowly to the closest thing to ground there was down there. As long as it was solid and not moving, she didn't care what it was. If something did move down there…Linda shook her head. _Relax, girl. Nothing's moving down there. And if there is...I'm just gonna keep telling myself there isn't._

Linda heard a sound like a mosquito in her ear, except it was a few octaves lower and a lot louder. She turned around and cried out.

"HOLY CRAP!"

Three giant metallic creatures like giant mosquitoes were flying right for her. Linda screamed and instinctively threw herself forward and submerged herself in the watery marsh. When the humming faded away, Linda struggled up out of the water, gasping, and looked down at herself.

"Aw, MAN!" She clenched her fist, ignoring the squishing sounds the movement made. "Ugh, I hate bugs!"

Judging by the sounds above her, she could swear the inhabitants of the jungle were laughing at her.

* * *

The clinic door opened and A.J. looked up.

"Hello, how may I—LINDA!" The woman dropped her book and walked up to her young, mud-covered friend.

"What in the world happened to you?"

Linda struggled out of her encrusted jacket. "I had to walk through a marsh and hide from some mosquitoes."

A.J. snorted and covered her smile with her hand. "Mosquitoes?"

"Well, they looked like mosquitoes. They were a heck of a lot bigger than usual. They looked robotic, sort of like the green acrobat-guy, and they were huge. And when I say huge, I mean bigger than me!"

A.J. fetched Linda's sketchbook. "Here. You forgot this when you left to go exploring. Can you draw what you saw?"

Linda grimaced. "I'll try later. I'm going home to change." She turned to go, paused, and glanced at A.J. "If that's okay with you."

A.J. smiled. "Go ahead."

* * *

Once she had changed into clean clothes, Linda settled down with her sketchbook and drew what she had seen. She had only gotten a glimpse of the insect-like things, but she could still draw the trees, flowers, and rocks.

_Acrobatic robots and pony-sized bugs, what else is on this crazy place?_

* * *

She continued her explorations the next day, making sure to bring her sketchbook and a pencil. She tried to make maps, but apparently cartography and drawing weren't very much alike. She carried a big stick, just in case. She had also gotten some knee-high boots so she was prepared for marshes if she needed to get through another one.

She spotted some white flowers that were as tall as she was. She pulled out a few and folded the stems so they would fit in her bag.

_GROOOAAAAAAAARRRR!_

Linda dropped the flowers and looked around. Now what? She gripped her stick tightly.

A tan robot-like bear lunged at her, roaring. Linda screamed, swung her stick, and ran without seeing if it had hit. She ran hard, hurdling bushes and fallen trees. Eventually she saw the bear wasn't chasing her. She had been too busy running for her life to think about whether it was really in danger. She shook her head and looked around. Her eyes fixed on one place where the forest apparently ended. She took a step toward it, and the branches rustled. She looked up and saw the green acrobat again. She fumbled with her bag, got out her sketch book and pencil, and flipped it open, willing her fingers to move faster.

He jumped and swung from branches and vines right over her head without a glance downward. She followed him, pencil poised, as he travelled the same way she had been planning to go. He grabbed a branch with both hands, swung around it a couple times, and released it, dropping onto the ground easily.

Linda realized they had, indeed, reached the end of the forest and hid behind a tree. He walked forward and greeted five other creatures. They all looked like him, but with several variations that made each unique. Quickly, Linda sketched in the figures and numbered them. She would finish those later. Linda put away the sketchbook and watched them, noticing they were starting to talk. She sneaked closer to hear what they were saying, and got quite a shock.

"I still thinksay we should power-destroy their village-place. I've seen these humanthings up close and, believe me, they're no goodfun at all."

"We believe you, Lewa, but remember the human that came before. Remember what he did after we attacked him?"

"They don't even know there's anyone here but them. They've been here maybe five suns and they think they own the island-place!"

"Calm down, Lewa. At least they haven't sent out scouts or anything."

"Actually," Lewa, the green one, scowled. "Some treevillagers saidgave a report about a human wandering around Le-Wahi. Even walked through the marsh-swamp under Le-Koro." He cracked a brief smirk. "Apparently, humans don't muchlike bugs."

Linda grimaced and resisted the urge to bang her head against the tree trunk. He was talking about her! And worse, he knew about the giant-bug incident. For some reason, this was worse news than the fact that they were talking about humans like they were this horrible scourge and debating whether they should wreck her home.

"Very funny, Lewa," the red one snapped. "I doubt their dislike of bugs will help us. If we're getting rid of them, we'll have to hit them hard and fast. If we don't devastate them, they'll strike back... probably at the Matoran."

Linda sneaked away then. She needed to process what was going on. She ran to just outside the gates of the human village and sat down on a rock.

"There you are!"

Linda jumped up to see her angry foster father. "What are you doing, slacking off from your job? You're in for one $&*% of a %^%$, you sneaky lazy !#^$*! Come on, we're going home."

Linda tensed and dug in her heels, but Tyrone grabbed her wrist and dragged her to their hut.

* * *

That night, Linda lay down on her bunk and scowled at the ceiling. "Those robot things might actually have a pretty good idea," she mumbled. She picked up her sketchbook and finished the drawings of the six robot-like people. Once done, she looked at them in the scarce light and wrote "Lewa" under the green one. Under the other five, she just drew a question mark.

She closed the book and set it aside. _So, we could be attacked at any moment,_ she mused. _I wonder what the others' names are. What's a Matoran? What about that human they met? What was he like?_

Linda turned over and fell asleep. Her dreams attempted to answer her questions, but gave her nothing more than a weird night.

* * *

Yeah, I'm going to end here. I'm braindead and in desperate need of sleep. The next chapter will be good. Review please.

Also ,manythanks to InTheLight1396, TasumiDreamer and Tiger Toa for the great reviews.


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, I looked at this and realized this chapter sucked and I apparently forgot to edit it. So I'm just re-uploading it._

Disclaimer: If I owned Bionicle, I wouldn't be posting my stories HERE, now would I?

* * *

"There's a fear in me and it's not showing. This could be the end of me and everything I know..." ~ It's Not My Time, 3 Doors Down

* * *

The next day, Linda was escorted to the clinic by her foster father.

"You'd better keep a close eye on her," He told A.J. "I caught her sneaking out yesterday."

A.J. nodded. "Right, sir. She won't leave my sight."

Tyrone gave a curt nod to A.J. and the evil eye to Linda before leaving. Five minutes after he was gone, A.J. handed Linda her bag.

"Come on, let's head out."

Linda blinked. "Huh?"

"I told him you wouldn't leave my sight. I guess I'm just going to have to go with you."

Linda grinned, but then remembered the conversation she'd eavesdropped on. "Uhm, I don't think that's a good idea."

"What? Why not?" A.J. frowned. "What happened yesterday?"

"Well, remember the green Tarzan dude? It turns out his name is Lewa, and he's got five friends, and they don't want us here. They were talking about destroying the village. And they had to completely devastate us, or we'd strike back at…the 'Matoran'."

"Matoran? What's that?"

Linda shrugged. "No clue."

"Well," A.J. sighed. "Let's go walk around the village anyway. I have to make a couple house calls."

"Okay, sure."

* * *

They made their way to the main square, where someone was making quite a commotion and a crowd was gathering.

"What ARE those things?"

"Where'd they come from?"

"Are they robots?"

Linda abandoned A.J. and elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. The sight that greeted her surprised her, but not as much as everyone else was.

A couple of short little robot-things were trapped in a cage. One was mostly green, with a teal …was that a mask or its face? Mask, Linda decided. The other had a red body and blue mask. Their eyes looked like glowing orange orbs, and, Linda noticed with a pang, very scared.

She turned to a man standing closest to the cages. "Hey, where'd you get them?"

The man grinned proudly. "Nabbed them near the gates. They fell off this big robot bird-thing. They were easy to catch."

"I'll bet. Considering they have such short legs."

The man's grin turned into a "don't wreck my moment" scowl and he said nothing. Linda returned to A.J.

"Did you see them? They look so scared."

A.J. nodded. "I have a idea."

She approached the man and asked, "May I take them? I'm a scientist, and I would love to study them."

"Sorry, these two are a great find. I can't just give them away to some science lady."

A.J. frowned. "I could pay you…"

"Nope. No deal. And don't even bother trying to name a price."

A.J. glanced at Linda and shrugged. "Sorry, I can't do anything here." She pulled a bobby pin out of her messy bun and handed it to Linda. "Hang on to this, will you, please?"

Linda looked at it, looked at the cage, then placed it in her pocket.

They returned to the clinic and passed the rest of the day with no further incident.

* * *

That night, Linda lay wide awake on her bunk, waiting and listening to the sounds of her foster parents getting ready for bed.

Once all she heard was snores (loud, unbearable snores that could rival the bellow of a blue whale), she quietly slipped out the window, holding A.J.'s paper clip in her fist. She skulked through the shadows to the main square.

She smiled when she saw the cage still in the same spot. She ran up to it and saw the captives' glowing eyes looking at her.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "Hang on, I'm gonna get you out of there." She attempted to pick the lock with the bobby pin, but for some reason it wouldn't go in. Frowning, Linda ran her fingertips over it. She blinked. There wasn't any keyhole, just a little black paint that looked like one.

"Okay, there has to be a way to open this thing," Linda muttered. She gripped the fake lock and tried tugging from different angles. To her surprise, it slid aside to reveal a simple flip-and-side lock used on pet cages. Linda raised an eyebrow.

_Okay, this is either clever or some weirdo's idea of a practical joke._

She opened the door and whispered, "Okay, now go. Hurry."

The two little creatures just stared at her. "You," she pointed at them, than in the direction of the town gate, "Out. Now."

She backed away from the cage and watched them jump out and run the direction she'd pointed. She yawned, rubbed her eyes and started to go home, but then thought of something.

She closed the cage, fastened the lock, and flipped the cover over it. Then she ran home to get some sleep.

* * *

Okay, next chapter is going to be BIG. Stay tuned! And REVIEW!

Thank you to TigerToa, InTheLight1396, and TasumiDreamer for your very nice reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Oh, boy! Plot twist! Just a warning in advance, if you don't like reading about blood, you're going to want to skim the last part.

Disclaimer: Bionicle. Not mine. Moving on.

* * *

"So here I go, watch me run, a million miles under the sun. That's what I'll do, if that's what it takes, to get away…" Matthew West, Get Away

* * *

"They're gone!"

"Where did they go?"

"How did this happen?"

"Search the village!"

Linda opened her eyes and sat up, yawning and stretching. Her foster mother Lola appeared in the doorway, wearing a frumpy nightgown that Linda suspected had been stolen from Martha Washington's wardrobe.

"Get out of bed, you lazy bum! Those things have escaped!"

Linda looked straight at her under sleepy lids, then flopped back down and rolled over to face away from her.

Lola swore at her in a high, shrill voice and dragged Linda off her bed onto the floor by her hair. Linda sat up and rubbed her head, looking daggers at Lola.

"Okay, okay, I'll be out in a sec."

Lola stomped out, calling over her shoulder, "If you're not out in less than twenty seconds—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

She was dressed and out searching for the escaped captives in fifteen seconds. Of course, she wasn't expecting to find them. She decided to stick around near the cage and listen to their captor babble about how impossible it was.

"I don't even have a key for this! They couldn't have gotten out!"

Linda dropped her hands and knees to peer under the front stoop of the nearest house.

"And it's locked even now! There's no way…"

Linda looked up when he trailed off and sat back on her heels, forgetting she wasn't supposed to be paying attention. The guy's eyes were narrowed. "Some prankster let them out and locked it again to mess our heads!"

Linda flinched slightly. _Crud. He sure figured that out quick._

"Someone let them out!" He yelled. "Who did it?"

"Ask our foster daughter, Linda," Tyrone suggested. "She always was a troublemaker." Linda scowled and stood up. The town leader approached her. "Miss, did you open the cage?"

Linda looked around. Tyrone and Lola were looking at her like she was the scum of the earth, while A.J. nodded slightly and gently prodded her with her gaze. Linda could almost hear what AJ was wanting to tell her: _" The truth will set you free."_

_That had better be true._

Linda took a deep breath and nodded, eyes downcast.

"I KNEW IT!" Tyrone thundered. Linda's muscles tightened as he grabbed her arm and dragged her their house. "Don't worry, sir, we'll make sure she pays for this in full."

AJ cut in. "I'm not sure that's necessary. She seems sorry enough already."

"Who's getting paid to raise this brat, you or us?" Lola snapped.

A.J. scowled at the woman. "Just giving my advice. You wouldn't want to cross that fine line between discipline and abuse, would you?"

Tyrone glared at her. "Who gives a ^%& about your advice! Clearly, this girl can't be trusted anywhere outside our house. You'll have to find a new assistant."

Linda's eyes widened and narrowed. She twisted her arm out of Tyrone's grip and sprinted home, her fosters' shouts only spurring her on.

She rushed into her room, grabbed her sketch pad and pencil, stuffed them in her bag, and started to put her other clothes inside. She had only managed to get in one T-shirt when she heard Tyrone thunder in. She closed the bag, slung it over her shoulder and threw herself out the window. Her hands and knees hit the pebbly ground painfully, but she recovered from her self-defenestration quickly, scrambling to her feet and setting off on a run.

She darted through the village and ,tripped over something and slammed into a post. She hit the ground gasping for breath, but was up again and hurtling out the gate, tightly clutching her bag to her chest. Tyrone and Lola scowled and shook their heads. "Good riddance!"

* * *

Linda had once had a dream that she was running, much like she was now. She hadn't known why, where, or what she was running from, just that she had to keep running.

That nightmare had become reality. She paid no attention to her surroundings and doggedly refused to slow down, holding her bag like her eternal soul was housed inside it. Branches scratched and tore at her clothes and skin. The robot bear from two days ago appeared and slashed its claws at her, roaring. Linda skidded so suddenly she fell on her rear and cried out when she felt its claws slice into her cheek. She frantically clambered away and was sprinting yet again, scarcely noticing the warm wetness slowly running along her jaw and down her neck.

She didn't know where she was or how long she had been running when she tripped, staggered, and crashed to the ground. She gasped for air and choked on…was this ashes? With an extreme effort, she got to her hands and knees, one hand still clutching her bag, but her burning and exhausted muscles refused to lift her any farther. Her mouth, throat and chest were raw with her heavy breathing and she felt lightheaded from the loss of blood. She alternately gasped and sobbed. _No…I can't…I can't give up…I have to…keep…going…_

Linda dropped to the ashy ground and blacked out.

* * *

(A/N: Hmmm, should I stop here? Nahhhh.)

Tahu walked through the Charred Forest. A few Ta-Matoran had reported hearing strange sounds coming from around here. With the arrival of the humans, it had been decided that Tahu would investigate any strange occurrences. He picked up the pace a little and stopped cold in shock.

A female human lay crumpled on the ground, unconscious. Tahu looked her over. She was soaked in some repulsive kind of red liquid that had probably leaked out of the three slashes on her cheek that closely resembled claw marks left by an ash bear. Her mushy-looking flesh was almost as pale as Kopaka's armor, and her tangled copper colored hair was strewn across her face and the ground. She was clearly in bad shape, but still alive. He lifted one of his swords to put the creature out of its misery when he remembered the code of the Toa. It was against the code to knowingly kill a creature or allow its death when it could be prevented. He sighed, put his sword away, picked up the human, and turned to carry her to Ta-Koro. "Stupid code…" he grumbled.

* * *

Eugh...Don't worry, I promise things are going to get better for poor Linda. I've probably read stuff with more blood and more pain, but I still feel like such a... mean person.

Whoever knows the meaning of defenestration wins. Wins what, you ask? I don't know. You just win. Reviews and constructive criticism are muchly welcomed. (If muchly isn't a word, it is now.)

And manythanks to levelupluigi, TasumiDreamer, The Rahkshi Writer, InTheLight1396, and TigerToa for the reviews and constructive criticism


	6. Chapter 6

Boy, I had trouble with this one. But I also had some fun with it. And just FYI, Linda is suffering from blood loss (from the slashes on her cheek and cuts on her arms from branches), dehydration, and general overexertion (which explains her passing out here and in the previous chapter). I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm overdoing it; I really don't know much about medical...stuff. Pretty, pretty please review!

Disclaimer: Really?

* * *

"I wanna heal, I wanna feel, like I'm close to something real, I wanna find something I've wanted all along, Somewhere I belong." ~Somewhere I Belong, Linkin Park

* * *

Linda groaned, rocked her head and tried to open her eyes. She was parched and miserably sore. The atmosphere was warm, too warm to be in her room. Her lids lifted to half-mast and flickered back down, allowing her only a fuzzy glimpse of red, orange, and yellow. Was the place on fire? No, it wasn't hot enough to be that. She did hear and smell fire, though

She felt something touch a deep wound on her cheek and tried to cry out at the sharp sting, but all that came out was a mix between a grunt and a squeak.

"Hush," a low, aged voice chided her quietly. She tried to open her eyes again and had no more success than the first time. The voice spoke again, sounding farther away, "Has Toa Tahu gone for Toa Gali?"

_Say what?_

"Yes, Turaga. They should be here soon."

"Good. The human is starting to wake up."

_Where am I?_ Linda wondered. She summoned all her willpower, propped herself on her elbows, and forced her eyes to open and stay open. Her vision was a little blurry, but she could make out a short, stooped reddish-orange figure leaning on a staff with what appeared to be a small fireball cradled at the top. He turned to face her and she saw he wore a mask that gave him the appearance of a wise old sage. When he saw she was awake, he frowned and pointed his staff at her. "You need to rest," he told her. Too tired to do anything otherwise, Linda dropped back onto her back and closed her eyes, giving a deep sigh as she was swept into welcoming oblivion.

* * *

Voices drew her out again.

"I thought the humans settled in southern Le-Wahi. What is one doing here? And in such bad shape?"

"I don't know. I found her unconscious in the Charred Woods and brought her here. I figured she ran into several Rahi on the way."

Cool, slender, metallic fingers touched the scratches on her arm. Linda winced but didn't make a sound. Then she felt cool water soothing the ache. The hand rested on her forehead, and water trickled down her temples into her hair. Linda opened her eyes and blinked to get her eyes to focus.

A blue mask with orange-yellow glowing eyes looked down at her. She tried to sit up, and the hand moved from her forehead to her back to prop her up.

"Thank you," she croaked. _Dang, I sound bad._

The blue-masked being nodded.

"What are you doing here, human?" A red-armored creature standing nearby asked harshly. Linda scowled and thought carefully. She could recall running and getting injured by a bear-like creature and collapsing some time later, but everything between those times was a total, disorienting blur. "I don't know," she answered hoarsely. "I don't even know where I am."

"Ta-Koro. Inside Turaga Vakama's hut."

Good. Now if only those words meant anything to her. She stared at him blankly and it just then occurred to her that she had seen both of them before in that clearing. She remembered what they had said about destroying the humans. _CRAP!_ Her face didn't change, but her mind freaked out.

She felt a twinge of pain and looked down at herself. The first thing she noticed was the fact that her arms were bare, aside from the bandages. "Okay, I was wearing a jacket before. What happened to it?"

"Your topmost garment?" Red – Linda decided to just call the two creatures by their colors since she sure as heck wasn't going to ask their names – shrugged. "Turaga Vakama tore off the cleanest parts and used them to stop your…leaking." He pointed at a cut on her upper arm, where a scrap of maroon fabric was securely wrapped. Linda's bicep flexed and quivered as she looked at it. "Where's the rest of it?"

"Burned it."

"You…WHAT!" Linda jerked towards him, triggering a dizzy spell. She was too mad to acknowledge it further than swaying slightly. "That was mine! You had no right to destroy something that belonged to someone else."

"It was already ripped up and soaked with that red stuff. There was no point in saving it."

Linda gave a loud guttural grunt in sheer exasperation. No point in yelling at him now. She looked herself over more. She was lying on a bed that required her to keep her knees bent, unless she wanted her feet to dangle off the edge. The sleeves and hem of her T-shirt had apparently been ripped off to improvise bandages and cleaning rags. Her jeans had undergone some of the same treatment, but were only a few inches shorter than before. Her shoes and socks were dirty, but fine.

Linda frowned thoughtfully. This didn't make sense. If they wanted to be rid of humans, why would they go to all this trouble to save one?

Blue placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and gently tried to push her back into a lying position. "Don't worry about it," she spoke soothingly. "Get some rest."

Linda reluctantly went to sleep. Her last thought was, _What is she, a mind-reader?_

* * *

Linda had no idea how much time had passed until she opened her eyes and sat up. Both Red and Blue were gone, but the old-looking one was near her bedside, reading something on a stone tablet by the light of his torch-staff. She cleared her throat. "Um…hello?"

He looked up. "Ah, the human awakes again. Feeling any better?"

Linda swallowed. "A little." She remembered something with a jolt. "Where's my bag?"

"Your bag?" The stooped being set his tablet on a low table and picked up her shoulder bag. "It fell on the ground outside and Jaller brought it in while you were asleep."

"Thank God!" Linda whispered as she snatched it out of his hand. She opened it and dug through it eagerly, smiling widely for the first time when she pulled out her sketch book and hugged it close. Next to her jacket, this was without a doubt her most prized possession and perhaps the only friend she had left now. She surprised herself by wanting to cry at that thought. She swallowed hard and laid her book in her lap. She turned to her only sentient companion. "Please thank Jaller for me."

He nodded. "Gladly."

Linda cocked her head. "Are you Turaga Vakama?"

He nodded. "Yes. I am the leader of this village of Ta-Koro."

Now Red's words made sense. "So," she glanced at her arm with the bandage made from her jacket. "You did this?"

Turaga Vakama nodded. Linda lowered her eyes. "Thanks."

"You are welcome."

Linda started to swing her legs over the side of the bed. "Can I try getting up?"

"You may," he replied, "but be careful. You're in poor condition as it is."

Linda set her feet on the floor, pushed herself up onto faintly quivering legs. She found the ceiling was just about eight inches above her head, allowing her to stand up straight but still making her feel claustrophobic. She extended her hands in front of her to maintain her balance and tried to force her legs to stop shaking. She shuffled one foot forward and didn't have any problems. She smiled and took one step.

The minute her foot left the floor, she lurched forward. She staggered forward and was caught by a red arm around her abdomen.

"I hope all humans don't always need someone keeping track of them."

Linda turned her head and saw a large, red-armored shoulder. She looked up into Red's mask. He looked irritated.

Linda stepped away, rocked back precariously on her heels, and folded her arms over her chest. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

"You've certainly been doing well, from what I've seen."

Linda grunted and turned away from him. "What are you planning to do with me? You don't seem to like me."

"You're staying here indefinitely."

Linda spun around, dropped her arms to her sides, and stared at him with wide eyes. "Huh?"

Red didn't look happy at all. "You're going to have to live here. It's the best choice."

Linda crossed her arms again. "Really?"

"We don't want word of our existence getting out among the humans," he copied her pose and looked down at her disdainfully. "And none of us trust your kind to keep this kind of secret."

Linda glared at him. "So I get to stay with you," she paused and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why don't you just feed me to some giant bug?"

"Don't tempt me," he told her in a low and dangerous tone. "Toa do not allow an enemy to die if it can be prevented."

"Why does that not make me feel better? And what the heck is a Toa, anyway?"

Red looked royally ticked now. Fortunately, Turaga Vakama stepped in. "I will explain to her, Toa Tahu. Perhaps you should return at a later time."

Tahu glowered down at her, but bowed his head respectfully to the elder. "Very well, Turaga." He turned and exited the building.

Vakama gestured for Linda to sit down. She obeyed, making her way slowly to the bed and sitting down.

"If you're going to live here," Vakama began. "You're going to have to learn a few things around here."

* * *

-Evil snicker- haha, Linda and Tahu are getting along great (not). This is gonna be fun! (Tahu: Not. Me: Shut up.)

Thank you to reviewers TasumiDreamer, levelupluigi, InTheLight1396, Hawkclaw, MouseyCat, and TigerToa!


	7. Chapter 7

FINALLY finished this chapter. Yes! I have beaten writer's block for now! Thanks to reviewers SkaSc Fan, TigerToa, TasumiDreamer, levelupluigi, and InTheLight1396.

Disclaimers: I just own the humans.

* * *

"I don't want to feel, like I can't trust you, consequently be the last one I turn to." ~ Stripped Away, Disciple

* * *

"The first thing I should tell you," Vakama began, "is that Toa Tahu's temper is as legendary as his power. It would do you much good if you learn to tread carefully around him."

"Meh." Linda leaned back against the wall and crossed her legs.

Vakama ignored her show of indifference and went on, "In answer to your recent question, a Toa is a being who can control an element. Tahu is the Toa of Fire."

Linda leaned forward. "So…he controls fire?"

Vakama nodded.

Linda leaned back. "Whoa," she said.

Vakama continued, "Tahu is the protector of Ta-Koro, so it has been difficult knowing he had to bring a human into his village—"

"WHOA, WHOA, **WHOA**, HOLD IT!" Linda uncrossed her legs and leaned so far forward it looked like she was going to fall. "TAHU brought me here?"

Vakama nodded. "He found you in the Charred Woods and carried you here."

"Why?"

"He told you himself," Vakama answered calmly. "Toa do not allow any enemy to die, even a human. He was bound by duty to take you here, where you would be safe and your wounds could be treated."

Linda blinked. This was certainly a weird world she had run into. "Okay," she said, crossing her legs again and getting comfortable. "Now tell me everything else I should know. Like, any other tall, crabby guys I shouldn't cross?"

"There are five other Toa, but none are so short-tempered as Tahu, and they rarely come through Ta-Wahi anyway."

"Okay," Linda nodded. She was just about to try and ask about Matoran when a familiar-looking blue-masked midget burst in. "Turaga Vakama!"

Vakama turned. "What is it, Takua?"

"Is the human-?" the cute midget looked over and noticed Linda sitting on the Turaga's bed and watching him. "Oh, she is awake. Never mind. Hey…"

Takua pointed at her. "You're the one who helped us! You let us out!"

This was a rare moment where Turaga Vakama didn't know what was going on. "You have encountered this human before?"

"Well, yeah," Takua nodded. "I told you about when the humans caught me and Kongu. She's the one who helped us escape."

"Really," the Turaga looked at her with a mixture of surprise and newfound respect. "Well, apparently we have unknowingly paid a debt."

Linda awkwardly shrugged one shoulder. "It was nothing," she mumbled. "Good to see you made it home," she added to Takua.

Takua smiled up at her. "Hey, do you have a name?"

"Of course," Linda replied, mildly annoyed. "It's Linda."

"Well, Linda," Vakama spoke up. "If you feel strong enough, perhaps Takua can show you around your new home."

Takua nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Come on!" He scampered out the door.

Linda set her feet on the ground and pushed herself up off the bed. She made her way to the door, keeping one hand on the wall.

Once she was out, Takua smiled excitedly. "Ok, first let's go—"

"One last thing, Takua," Vakama interjected. "Her new home is _Ta-Koro._ She stays inside its walls."

"Ahhhh…" Takua groaned. Linda barely managed to squelch her grin when Takua looked up at her. Now that they were standing side-by-side, she noticed he was the same height as a two-year-old human. She crouched down to his level and asked, "So, where do we go first?"

Takua perked up. "You should meet all the other Matoran here!"

Linda blinked. "You're a Matoran?"

"Yeah. Just like you're a human," Takua's eyes suddenly widened. "What happened to your face?"

"Huh? Oh…" Linda sat back on her heels and ran a fingertip along one of the cuts on her face. "I was running in the jungle and a…I think it was a bear…it attacked me."

"An ash bear?"

"Like I would know."

"How did you get up here anyway? Toa Tahu said you were almost dead!"

Linda shrugged. "I don't know. It's weird; I remember running out of the human village, then the bear—"

"Ash bear."

"Whatever. All I know is I was running, then I fell down and blacked out. And then I woke up here in Ta-Koro. In all honesty, I don't have a clue how far the human settlement is," she concluded.

"I have a map of the island in my house," Takua said eagerly. "Wanna come see?"

"Sure!" Linda grinned.

"Follow me!" Takua turned and ran off. Linda followed at an easy jog. Other Matoran got out of their way, all but one. He slammed into Linda's legs, sending them both sprawling. Linda struggled up from her prone position and rolled into a sitting position to see a red-masked Matoran lying near her feet.

"Oh, my gosh," she gasped. "I'm really, really sorry. I am such a big klutz."

"No…problem," the Matoran replied as a couple others helps him up. "I just didn't move fast enough."

"Well, I could've looked where I was going," Linda countered. "Sorry. Again." She got up to her feet. One of the Matoran looked her over. "That other one was bigger. And meaner."

Linda frowned. "What other what?"

"Nothing. Never mind." All three Matoran ran off in different directions. Linda turned to Takua and asked, "What was he talking about?"

"Nothing," was the hasty reply. Linda frowned. Clearly everyone knew something she didn't and intended to keep it that way. She wondered what else they were planning to keep from her. Linda put it aside for now.

"Well, I see you're recovering well."

Linda tensed and then turned. Yep, it was Tahu again, and he had no doubt just seen her trip over one of his villagers. Great. Perfect. Wonderful. _I'm going to die now._

Tahu was glaring down at her, arms crossed. Linda sighed.

"You'd better watch your step, human. If you give me one good reason to think the Matoran are endangered by you, I'm going to make you _wish_ I would kill you."

Linda frowned, unwilling to let him know she was unnerved by his threat. She took a deep breath and responded levelly, "Don't worry. That won't be necessary."

"Better not," Tahu's eyes narrowed as he started to walk away. "I'm keeping a close eye on you."

Once he was gone, Linda dropped to the ground and slumped so she looked like an abandoned rag doll. _I would _so_ rather take my chances with Tyrone right now.

* * *

_

Okay, before anyone starts bashing on Tahu (or me, for writing him that way), he's just trying to protect his villagers. I promise he'll come around...eventually. Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 up! Thanks to rocketfist, wolf girl811, TasumiDreamer, InTheLight1396, TigerToa, and levelupluigi for the reviews.

Disclaimer: Bionicle's not mine. Linda is. read the story

* * *

Takua tapped her shoulder. "You coming?"

Linda looked up, nodded, and picked herself up to follow him again. _At least Takua likes me._

They made their way to Takua's hut. Takua walked right in while Linda leaned over to peer inside. She decided to just wait outside since it looked like she wouldn't fit in there. With all that clutter in that little house, it looked cramped even for Takua. Not at all bothered by the disorder that was his personal dwelling, Takua darted in and started digging through piles of junk, tossing aside assorted objects, eventually getting so deep in the stuff that all Linda could see of him was the stuff he tossed out. A stick with a hammer on one end and a scoop on the other sailed through the doorway and landed at Linda's knees. Curious, Linda picked it up, looked it over, and concluded she had absolutely no idea what it was for.

"Found it!" Takua popped his head out, triumphantly holding up a rectangular stone tablet with a long, odd shape etched on it. Takua came all the way out and handed in to her. Linda set aside the weird stick to take it, and Takua snatched it up, exclaiming, "Hey! My kolhii stick! I was looking for that!"

Linda raised her eyebrows slightly, then shook her head and looked at the tablet. "So…where's Ta-Koro?"

"Right here," Takua pointed at a spot near the east shore. "See? It says 'Ta-Koro' right there."

Linda looked. She saw a line of circles with lines and smaller circles inside. "I can't read this. I don't think we humans have anything like this."

"You don't have letters?"

"No, we have letters. They're just different," Linda waved that aside. "Now where's the human village?"

"Right around here," Takua's finger moved down to the southeastern shores. "I haven't marked the exact spot yet but I know it's somewhere around here."

"Wow," Linda tilted the map and her head from side to side, trying to figure out the distance between the two villages. "How far, exactly, is that?"

"Several dozen kio, at least."

"Kio? I'm guessing that's a measurement unit."

"Yeah. Humans use different words for that, don't they?"

"Oh, yeah," Linda handed the tablet back to Takua. "Just tell me, is it short or long? I don't know the proportions of this."

"Pretty long."

Linda whistled. "Must've been on adrenaline that whole time," she remarked. "I'm not that great a runner."

"Adrenaline."

"It's a chemical in the human body that's released when we feel threatened. It prepares us to run to safety or fight our way out," Linda explained.

"Oh. What happened to you to make that happen?" Takua asked, eyes wide.

Linda swallowed, feeling unsure. "Well, it was…" She turned her head away, eyes downcast. "Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Uh…okay."

Linda looked at him and smiled. "Thanks for understanding."

* * *

"You asked to see me, Turaga?" Tahu stepped through Vakama's door.

"Yes, Tahu," Vakama answered. "I wanted to speak with you about the human…Linda."

"Oh," Tahu's attitude changed to disdain. "What?"

"I overheard your threat to her and found it unnecessary," Vakama's voice was stern. "I believe she may have sympathized with us before you found her."

"What?" Tahu stared at the Turaga in disbelief. Had the Turaga gone crazy? "She is a _human._"

"That she is. And exactly how many humans have you met before her?"

Tahu grunted and shrugged. "Enough."

"_One_."

Tahu scowled. "So? I've learned more than enough about humans from one."

"Really, Tahu? Why don't you speak with Takua? I believe he's learned some interesting things about humans from the one within our walls."

Tahu sighed, bowed his head, and nodded.

* * *

"Jaller, meet Linda. Linda, this is Jaller. He's my best friend and captian of the Ta-Koro Guard."

"Pleased to meet you," Linda smiled politely as she kneeled in front of the gold-masked Matoran. She had a feeling she might as well get used to doing this if she wanted to have eye-to-eye conversations with the villagers.

"Likewise," Jaller nodded.

Linda brightened. "Hey, you're the one who picked up my bag, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's me."

Linda wanted to hug him and very nearly did. "Thank you so much! You didn't happen to look inside, did you?"

Jaller stared at her, puzzled. "Why would I want to snoop around in something that's not mine? Takua does enough of that for all of Ta-Koro."

"Hey!" Takua protested. Linda laughed. "I guess I'll just have to Takua-proof my bag, then. I really don't want anyone getting into that."

"Why not?" Linda could almost see the curiosity radiating off Takua in waves.

She grinned and replied, "First thing you should know about life with humans: we like having our privacy."

"Takua!" Linda flinched at the sound of Tahu's voice. "A word with you."

"Sure!" Takua bounded a few steps in tahu's direction, then paused and glanced back at Linda.

"It's about her," Tahu answered the Matoran's unspoken question. Takua threw Linda a look of concern and followed Tahu away.

"Is he going to be okay?" Linda asked anxiously.

"Of course. Tahu would never hurt a Matoran. It's just you he hates."

"Really," Linda blandly responded. "I feel special."

"Well, not exactly _you_ yourself, it's just the fact that—"

"I'm human. Trust me, I don't need reminding." Linda got to her feet and turned to go.

"Hold up!" Jaller ran to cut her off from leaving. "I didn't mean that that's a bad thing…"

"It's not?" Linda snapped. "Then why does everyone hate me?"

Jaller was learning the first difficulty of dealing with human females. "Everyone doesn't hate you…"

"You're right. I mean, everyone but _three _of this island's inhabitants hates me," Linda sighed and turned away. "Look, Jaller, I'm really not in a good mood. I need to be alone for a while, okay?"

"Okay, sure. Fine."

* * *

Linda walked back to Vakama's hut to retrieve her bag, then went out walking around the village in search of a secluded area. She noticed that passing Matoran deliberately moved out of her way and stopped to stare at the tall, gangly, fleshy creature that had appeared in their midst. Linda sighed and let her head hang so her hair hid her face. _What I wouldn't give to have A.J. here._

She found a spot against the wall that looked like no one walked through, sat down, and pulled out her sketchpad. She flipped it open to her sketch of Lewa in the jungle. _I wonder what would happen if _he_ had found me? Would he treat me any different? _She shook her head and flipped to the next page. _Probably not._

On the next page was a bunch of jungle plants and the ash bear. She lifted her fingers to touch the cuts on her cheek and jerked them away when they made contact. _These are going to leave scars. I just know it. _Next page.

This was where she made done the sketches of the Toa and written Lewa's name. She frowned momentarily, then shrugged, got her pencil, and wrote "Tahu" beneath the picture of him. She cocked her head, thinking, _Something's missing... Oh, I know!_

She added "=Stupid Jerk" and tiny devil horns, then allowed herself a crooked grin. _Perfect.

* * *

_

Takua swallowed hard. "Uh, Toa Tahu, Linda's not in any trouble, is she?"

"No…should she be?" Tahu arched an eyebrow suspiciously.

"No, no, no," Takua waved his hands back and forth and shook his head. "She's really nice! She helped me and Kongu escape when the other humans captured us. Linda's a _good _human. I know it!"

Tahu blinked. "She…helped you?"

Takua nodded. "She's different from the other humans. In fact, I bet they drove her away."

"How are you so sure?"

"She said she could only have run all this way while on aderna…adreno…something she said humans get when they feel threatened."

Tahu frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose you could be right. Maybe she is on our side."

_But how do I know for sure? _he wondered.

* * *

Okay, I've decided you CAN bash Tahu if you want. Just don't use anything with spikes, please.

I got confused with the measurements. If anyone wants to correct me on this, please do.


	9. Chapter 9

Yes! Finally done with another chapter! *does happy dance* I had a bunch of other stuff to do (working on other stories, eating, sleeping, watching Youtube, playing video games^^'), plus it was Return of the Writer's Block. I think it may have killed one or two of my brain cells.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle or the song.

* * *

_**"I'm too young to lose my soul, I'm too young to feel this old, So long, I'm left behind I feel like I'm left behind." ~ World So Cold, Three Days Grace**_

* * *

While Tahu was having his second thoughts and Linda was dealing with her emotions, a tall, but slightly bent figure stood on a cliff so high it offered a vantage point that allowed him to look right down into Ta-Koro. He spotted something he had not seen in so many years: a human. The figure shook his head. Either this was a very nice dream, his mind had finally snapped, or more humans had found their way to this forsaken, miserable piece of dirt in the sea. Since he was still here after thinking, "I must be dreaming," and thinking you were insane tended to prove you weren't, he would have to go with the latter.

_They must be holding her prisoner in there. _He clenched a bony-fingered fist. _Don't worry, I'll get you out._

* * *

Linda cocked her head, creased her brow, and slightly pursed her lips in a thoughtful expression. "I think this should do it," she murmured as she drew a few light lines. "There."

A carefully drawn sketch of Takua grinned back at her, one hand raised as if to wave at her. She turned the page and started on a drawing of Vakama. She had just blocked in most of the basic shapes and was struggling with his firestaff when she heard the voice of her subject himself.

"Ah, there you are."

Linda jolted in surprise and slapped her book shut. "Oh! Ah…hello, Turaga Vakama," she stammered.

Vakama noticed her sudden unease and ignored it. "Takua and Jaller have been looking for you."

Linda frowned. "I told Jaller I needed some time alone."

"Apparently, he thought you had spent enough time alone." He held out his hand. "Perhaps we should go tell them they can stop looking?" Linda looked at it, then up into the glowing eyes for a few moments. She lowered her eyes and stared at the gray, sooty dirt for several moments. "Okay," she smiled and got up.

"Hey, there you are!" Takua shouted and ran up to her.

"Where'd you go off to?" Jaller asked. "We couldn't find you!"

"If I told you, then you'd know where to find me. And if I happen to be blowing off steam, I can't be responsible for what happens to you," She grinned playfully.

A strange sound came from behind Takua. He turned and grinned. "Hey, Pewku! Here, girl!"

A large brown crablike creature scuttled up eagerly, making noises that sounded like happy grunts. "This is Pewku," Takua told Linda, reaching up and patting the crab's shell.

"Hi, Pewku," Linda bent down and also patted Pewku, who made a happy cooing noise. Linda smiled. "Aww, she's cute."

"She likes you, too," Takua informed her. Pewku proved her master right by trying to lick Linda's hand with a metallic pink tongue. Linda lifted her hand just out of the tongue's reach. _She's kinda like a big metal puppy_, she thought with a giggle. _Wait, did I just _giggle?She turned her head and noticed a tall red-armored figure standing off to the side, watching. Linda's smile slipped away for a moment, but she quickly pasted it back on and forced laughter at Pewku's antics. What was Tahu watching her for? She sneaked another glance at him out of the corner of her eye, but he was gone. She shrugged and yawned. _Yikes, it's getting late. I need to get some sleep._

* * *

Tahu walked away and jumped on top of the village wall, thinking. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Linda meant no harm to his villagers, but, there were still so many questions. What could have caused her to flee the human village? Why did she care so much about that strange tablet? He remembered when he had picked her up, she had unconsciously covered her right arm with her left. Now he saw that her lower arm had been covered with bandages before Vakama and Gali had treated her wounds. When and where had she gotten those wounds? And then there was the fact that she acted so differently from that other one, the one who had come before all these others. What exactly was it that made her seem so…good? She was friendly and considerate to the Matoran and somewhat respectful to Vakama. That other human…Tahu sensed someone's gaze and looked up at the mountains in time to catch a glimpse of a retreating figure. He tensed and almost moved to pursue it, but shook his head. _You don't have to worry about that one anymore, _he told himself. _He's dead…has to be._

One of the guards shouted something, but Tahu wasn't listening. He turned and located Linda again. She looked like she was looking for something, then settled down, placing her bag on the ground. She lay down, resting her head on her bag…

_Wait a minute, is she sleeping out there? I thought humans at least needed shelter._ Tahu was going to want to speak with Vakama about this.

"Tahu!"

Tahu jumped and turned to see a slim blue figure standing a few paces away, one hand on her hip. "Watching your new human charge, I see," she remarked. "A little too intently to be healthy, in my opinion."

"What exactly are you implying, Gali?" Tahu snapped. "And what are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, I had to yell to get your attention," Gali pointed out. "And I came to see how things were faring. May I ask what exactly you find so intriguing in this human?"

"I was just thinking," Tahu explained. "She's so different from that other human. She's already become friends with several Matoran, and one of them stood up to me for her. She released two Matoran when the other humans had caught them. Vakama said she may have sympathized with us when she lived with the other humans. I think she may have been kicked out of the human village for that or some other reason. Maybe she was some kind of outcast."

Gali frowned. "That is quite likely. It might explain her older wounds." She shook her head. "It's hard to think that they would drive away one of their own, though. Especially considering how young she is, even by human standards."

"Not for me," Tahu grunted. "Humans are ruthless when they want to be. I'm sure we can safely assume that from the first human."

Gali shuddered slightly. "You don't need to remind me of that. But what could make her so different from the others?"

"That's what I was trying to figure out," Tahu admitted. "And I was just about to ask Vakama why she is apparently sleeping outside on the ground."

Gali smiled. "Well, let's go. I'm a little curious as well."

The two Toa jumped down to the ground and walked to Turaga Vakama's hut.

When Tahu asked, Vakama answered, "She said she wanted to sleep outside. She claimed she felt too enclosed inside."

Tahu stepped outside again and saw her lying a few lengths away, head resting on her arms, sound asleep. He shook his head. This girl seemed to be purposefully keeping him guessing.

Gali lightly tapped his shoulder. "Mind if I stay until she wakes up? I'd like to meet her when she's not recovering from Rahi wounds."

"Sure, you can stay. I don't mind."

Tahu looked at the sleeping human again and found himself wondering how he could think she would cause harm to anyone. He blinked hard in surprise at the thought and let his gaze wander back to the mountain where he had seen the figure earlier. The memory of it caused him to stiffen. True, Linda may not be a threat, but the other humans…they were still dangerous. To everyone in the Matoran villages.

* * *

Who do you think that mysterious figure might be? And, yay, Tahu has officially decided Linda's O.K.! Now comes the fact that Tahu has to apologize...fun.

Tahu: Why don't you just kill me?

Because I like you. Okay! Please read and review!


	10. Chapter 10

Ta-da! Another chapter. Sorry it took so long. But, it's longer than other chapters. That's a plus, right? Thanks to Kaimaler, Nameless Reviewer, InTheLight1396, TasumiDreamer, hawkclaw, Mata Nui's 1 Fan, and levelupluigi for your great reviews. :)

Disclaimer: If you can't figure it out by now...leave.

* * *

A.J. set down her tools and sighed. Life at the clinic was ridiculously dull without Linda around. She looked out the window at the street connecting most of the buildings. She shook her head. It had been nearly four days since Linda had fled town, and A.J. was the only one still wondering and worrying about her. She had tried to get someone to go out and try to find the girl, but no one was interested in possibly risking their lives to look for a troublemaking runaway. Tyrone and Lola were simply happy to be rid of her. Of course, she was now the only one in town who knew they weren't alone on the island. What if she had run into one of the natives? What would they do to her? What was going to happen to the other humans? A.J. shook her head and went back to her work, trying to keep her mind off of that. _Linda, you'd better be okay out there. I've lost enough people in my life already._

* * *

Linda woke up feeling stiff and sore. She sat up and groaned as her muscles loudly protested against moving. The Ta-Matoran jumping on her from behind certainly didn't help.

"You're finally awake!" Takua cried. "You were asleep for so long, we were starting to think you were dead or something!"

" How long was I asleep?"

"About eight hours."

Linda's eyebrows scrunched together. "That's not that long. Not for humans, anyway."

"Well, come on!" Takua impatiently grabbed her hand and tugged hard, earning an "Ow!" from his human friend. "Toa Gali came while you were sleeping and she's been waiting to meet you!"

"Another Toa?" Linda asked. "OW! Stop pulling, I can get up on my own." Linda managed to get her hand back and stood up. Takua grabbed the leg of her jeans and tried to drag her along.

"Hurry up!"

Linda lengthened her strides to deliberately overtake Takua.

"HEY, wait up!"

Linda laughed. "Make up your mind, why don't ya."

She rounded a corner and stopped short at the sight of Tahu standing with a blue-armored Toa. This new Toa was slimmer and a little shorter than Tahu, but still tall enough to be very intimidating to a human. Something about her was creepily familiar, but Linda couldn't quite get her finger on it.

Takua smacked into the back of her legs, fell down, then picked himself up. "Um…Here she is, Toa," he stammered.

"Thank you, Takua," Tahu replied. "Gali, this is Linda. Linda, this is Gali, Toa of Water."

Linda suddenly noticed how dry her throat was, both from thirst and anxiety. Was Gali going to be like Tahu? Or—

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Linda," Gali said in a kind tone. "Tahu has told me a good deal about you."

_Oh, great,_ Linda thought. She forced out a, "Hello," and crossed her arms over her chest, left arm over her right. Then it hit her.

"You tended my wounds, didn't you?"

Gali smiled and nodded. Linda smiled as well. "Thank you," she said. "I appreciate it."

Tahu cut in, "Well, I'll leave you to get to know each other. See you later."

The two females watched him go, then turned to face each other. Linda swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "Sooo…" she started. "What do you want to ask me?"

"How do you know I want to ask you anything?"

"Why else would you be here?" Linda uncrossed her arms and set her hands on her hips. "Plus, I'm a human, and that's apparently a big deal. So you want to talk to me to find out what humans are like."

Gali blinked once, then nodded. "Yes, I am learning they are apparently quite perceptive, or mind-readers."

Linda laughed, remembering what she had thought about Gali in Vakama's hut. "Some of us. Others are denser than solid mercury and the only way to get through to them is to smack them upside the head."

Gali chuckled. "Strange. I know someone fitting that description perfectly. Humans don't seem very different from us, in that respect."

Linda grinned and turned, walking in the direction of the south wall. She had never liked just standing in the middle of a room…or village. Gali easily caught up with her and kept pace as Linda talked some more, the words coming surprisingly easily, like the times she and A.J. had talked.

"I'm glad someone thinks so. I mean, Takua and Jaller are great, but…" she shrugged. "I don't know."

She reached the wall and set her hands on a couple rough protrusions in the wall. She gripped them tightly and looked down at her feet, trying to locate some kind of footholds. Gali watched her scrape the toes of her shoes against the wall. "Um, what are you doing?"

"I wanna see if I can climb the wall."

"Why?"

"I saw Tahu hanging out up there and I wanna try," Linda replied, smiling as she found a place where her toe fit. With a grunt, she lifted herself off the ashy ground and set her other foot on a rock sticking out from the wall. Slowly, she began to climb, holding herself up by her fingertips and toes. Gali shrugged and jumped to the top of the wall. As Linda slowly drew near the top, Gali knelt down and offered her hand, but Linda shook her head.

Several exhausting minutes later, her hand finally grasped the edge of the top of the wall. She strained to lift herself up, and Gali firmly clasped her forearm and pulled her the rest of the way.

"Thanks," Linda sat cross-legged on the wall and looked out. "Whoa."

The village was surrounded by lava, and beyond that, tall, craggy mountains. Farther than that, she could see a forest of charred and dead trees. Gali sat down next to her as Linda rested her elbows on her knees.

"Well, I guess I won't be leaving any time soon," she remarked. Gali frowned, wondering if she caught a not-unexpected hint of disappointment.

"Do you want to?" she asked the human.

Linda shrugged. "Welllll…yeah, I'd like to. I mean, not that I don't like Ta-Koro, but I'm not all that fond of being fenced in either." She smirked. "It doesn't help that, when you're not here, the only other female in the entire village is a crab. Did someone in here really want female companionship or something?"

Gali laughed. "It's not so much to keep you in anymore. It's more to keep other humans from finding you, and then us. We don't want the Matoran to get hurt."

Linda muttered something under her breath. Gali frowned. "Do you wish you could go home?"

Linda appeared to look at the Toa thoughtfully, but she was really staring into space. "Sure," she said at last. "But…I don't think I know where that is."

"The human village?"

"No, I know where THAT is," Linda replied. "Takua showed me a map. I don't mean the human village. That place…I'm mostly glad I'm not living there anymore. I'll bet no one's even looking for me."

"Why?"

Linda shifted her position so she was sitting more upright and laced her fingers around one knee. "Well, I only had one friend in village. And she's the village physician, so she never leaves."

"Couldn't she send someone to look for you?"

"Not likely," Linda scowled at the far shore of the lava lake. "Everyone else probably thinks I'm not worth the trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't do as much work as some others. I was constantly sneaking out of town and supposedly slacking off. And I let the Matoran go and ran away when I was going to be punished."

Gali blinked in surprise. "You'd left the village before?"

Linda glanced at Gali and shrugged. "Yeah, but I never made it out of the jungle. The point is, I'm really just a runaway juvenile delinquent to them. Whatever I get, I deserve it, so why bother with me?"

Gali gazed at the human sympathetically. Linda sensed this and stiffened. "Don't go feeling sorry for me," she said coldly, not looking at the Toa. "I'm fine with no one caring."

_I don't believe that, _Gali thought.

"But… wasn't there someone who raised you?"

Linda spit into the lava. "Yeah, there were two people with that job, but they hate me. I just know they're glad I'm gone." She rubbed the bandage on her forearm with her fingertips. "I don't care if I never go back there again," she continued bitterly. "In fact, I hope I don't ever see that place again."

Gali looked at the human in surprise. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

"It's fine," Linda cut her off. "You didn't know about it. Now you do. Just please don't start treating me like a pathetic helpless little child."

"Alright. Just one more question about what happened before, and not another word after that."

"Deal. Shoot."

"Why is your arm bandaged? You seem…secretive…about it, like you're trying to hide it."

Linda's eyes dropped to her bandage. "It's nothing, really. It's just…" She shrugged. "My 'guardians'," she did air quotes at the word, "gave me some cuts for…something, I don't even remember what. A.J., the friend I told you about, bandaged it up, but I guess it's just some kind of habit to hide what they did. Everyone who saw them just assumed I did it and made fun of me."

Gali kneeled beside Linda. "So, is that why you were so upset when Tahu got rid of your…" Gali paused, trying to remember the word.

"My jacket," Linda finished. "Yeah. If you don't have cuts and scars showing, no one immediately assumes you have issues. I guess, even when they're covered with bandages, I still think I should hide them."

"I see," Gali remarked softly. "Well, thank you for answering that."

"You're welcome." Linda got an idea. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Alright. What?"

"Why don't you like humans? I mean, Takua only talked to me because I helped him escape, Jaller only talked to me because Takua introduced me, and every other Matoran has just stared at me from a distance. Tahu thinks he has to threaten to make me want to die."

Gali jumped to her feet, eyes flashing. "Tahu WHAT?"

"He said if I gave him one good reason to cause the Matoran harm, he'd make me wish he'd kill me."

Well, he'd never mentioned this little bit. Gali turned sharply on her heel and jumped off the wall. Linda scrambled to her feet and yelled, "HEY! YOU NEVER ANSWERED MY QUESTION!" She frowned. Gali was probably looking for Tahu. _Maybe to beat him up. She seems mad enough._ Linda grinned widely. _Oh, there is absolutely no way I am missing this._

* * *

Okay, so in the previous chapter, I said Tahu was going apologize to Linda. And now you are reading the chapter and he hardly talks to her. And so...I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY XC Believe me, I had planned for that, but then the more-than-a-page-long Linda-Gali dialog came up, so I ended up having to postpone it. Sorry, again. But, on the bright side, in the next chapter, (and I really mean it!) Tahu WILL apologize, but first he will have to cower before a seriously ticked-off female Toa!:D See, this will be worth the wait, which I promise to make as short as possible.

Please review. It motivates me to know people are enjoying this. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Ta-DA! Update! And right before I actually start school. This year I'm starting a college class in high school. UGH. Which means updates and such are likely to be few and far between during the school year. Oh, well. Get popcorn, the long-awaited Tahu apology is here AT LAST. YAY! :D

Thanks to Mata Nui's Number One Fan, TigerToa, TasumiDreamer, InTheLight1396, and levelupluigi for your great reviews.

Disclaimer: Read the chapter!

* * *

"TAHU!"

The Fire Toa winced slightly and turned to see an infuriated Gali approaching. So he hadn't been out lava-surfing long enough after all. Not even close.

"Umm, hello to you, too, Gali," he stammered uneasily.

"What were you THINKING?" Gali shouted in his face, causing him to flinch instinctively.

"Thinking…?"

"That explains a lot. But, really, Tahu, threatening a child like that?"

Oh, that was it. As if he didn't already regret that. "I…I wouldn't call her a _child—_"

"Whatever. Either way, Linda's life has been bad enough without you making things worse! Haven't you thought about that? Wait, no, of course you haven't."

"How was I supposed to know-?"

"You're right, you couldn't know, considering you only talked to her long enough to threaten her!"

Tahu cringed. "Okay, but—"

"Admit it, Tahu. You are the only one to blame in all this!"

"…No…"

Gali stared at him with a mix of anger and disbelief. "You really are an idiot! I can't believe you can't step down off your high Toa statue for three seconds!"

She continued to rant at him about his pride and stupidity. Tahu stopped bothering to try and defend himself, knowing everything was true. It really didn't help that sometime in the middle of Gali's rants Linda had appeared and was now watching the whole thing with an expression that indicated she was thoroughly enjoying this.

Linda was just barely holding in her laughs. The big, tough, scary red Toa had been reduced to a cringing red Toa who seemed to want to shrink. _Ha! Where's popcorn when you need it?_

The whole thing went on until Tahu suddenly turned and walked away. Surprised, Gali stopped yelling and watched him leave, her anger draining away to be replaced by concern and confusion.

"Tahu?"

She followed him anxiously. Linda's shoulders slumped. "Awww, it's over?"

* * *

Tahu jumped on top of the wall, not turning when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Tahu! What was that about?"

"You made your point. I'm stupid, intolerably proud, and too stubborn for anyone's own good. I realize that. I was going to apologize to Linda for it."

"But you haven't. Why not?"

Tahu shrugged and avoided her eyes. Gali huffed impatiently.

"You still don't want to admit you were wrong. Really, Tahu, why must you be so infuriatingly stubborn?"

"_I'm_ stubborn? What does that make you?"

"_You're_ stubborn. _I'm_ right."

That was…true, in this case. Tahu turned away and snapped, "I'll apologize to her soon enough."

"Alright," Gali replied casually. Tahu took a few steps along the inner edge.

A jet of water slammed into his back, sending him flailing off the wall, onto the roof of a hut and then sliding onto the ground. Tahu got to his hands and knees and looked up at Gali, who was holding her aqua axes.

"Now that you don't have your pride to worry about…" she called down, waving with one of her axes at something behind him. Tahu turned his head to see Linda staring down at him, her face contorting oddly in her attempts to keep from laughing. _Mata Nui, _he thought. _Kill me now._ _Please._ He got to his feet and faced Linda.

"I…ugh…I'm sorry, Linda. About…how I've been treating you since you came. I was…" His throat constricted momentarily. "…wrong about you. You're different from what I expected a human to be like." He breathed in and out deeply. Oh, how could it was to have that out.

Linda blinked up at him for a few minutes before she smiled and said, "Apology accepted."

"Good." Tahu turned away gruffly.

Linda called after him, "Then again, how badly do you want to be forgiven? Like, 'grovel' badly?"

"I said sorry!" Tahu snapped. "That's all you're getting!"

Linda shrugged, mildly disappointed. "Okay."

Gali jumped down to join them, smiling at Tahu. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Tahu grunted and walked away. Gali grinned at Linda. "He's glad to be done with that. He'll just never admit." Linda grinned backed and shrugged.

"I think I'll be going, too. Just to be by myself. That okay?" she asked.

Gali smiled, "Certainly."

Linda paused. "Be sure to tell Takua and Jaller that. They're stalking me."

Gali raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, they're not really stalking me. They just like to know where I am, and if I go somewhere without either one of them, they start searching like crazy."

Gali nodded. "I'll tell them you want to be alone."

"Thanks."

* * *

Linda sat cross-legged in a secluded part of the village and opened her sketch pad to the page with the Toa. She put in Gali's name under her picture and fixed it a little. When she was certain that the picture did the female Toa justice, her eyes wandered to Tahu's picture, decorated with little horns and labeled "Tahu=Stupid Jerk" and sighed. She still doubted she would ever see him as a friend, at least a friend like A.J., Takua, or Gali, but at least he had apologized. And he had seemed actually sorry. She had to give him credit for that. With another heavy sigh, she shortened the label back to "Tahu" and then set to work on removing the horns.

"FOUND YOU!"

Linda jumped and twisted around to see Takua. "Takua!" Linda cried. "What did I say about looking for me?"

"Sorry," Takua shrugged guiltily as he walked up carefully, like he was on a minefield. "I got curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Linda told him and returned her attention to her sketch. "Oops." When Takua had distracted her, her arm had apparently kept moving and erased not only the horns, but also Tahu's entire head.

"What, 'oops'?" Takua asked and tried to peek at her tablet. "What is that? What are you doing with it? Why did you say 'oops'?"

Linda hugged the book and pencil to her chest and twisted her body so he couldn't peek however hard he tried.

"It's my sketch pad, I'm hiding it from you, and that's for me to know and you to not find out!"

"Awwwww, come onnnnnn," Takua pouted…or at least came as close as possible with a mask. "At least tell me what were you doing before I showed up?"

"Drawing."

"Drawing what?"

"…stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"_Stuff."_ Linda snapped. "And trust me, this thing's not leaving my sight or entering your reach." She stood up and held her tablet at the level of her shoulder, well out of the Matoran's reach.

"No fair!" Takua complained, jumping up and stretching on his tiptoes, trying to get at least a little closer to the forbidden treasure in the human's grasp. Linda just laughed, then shouted when Takua resorted to trying to find some way to either climb or topple her to get at it.

* * *

Tahu and Gali overheard the yelling and turned to see Takua running down the main road with Linda's bag while Linda pursued, clutching her precious sketch book. She had almost caught him when Pewku ran up and Takua jumped on her back. Linda paused to catch her breath and muttered, "Okay, that is just cheap. TAKUA GIVE ME BACK MY BAG!"

Gali raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I can see things are going to be interesting here."

Tahu smirked. "My wager's on Takua."

* * *

Well, I enjoyed wrting this. :) Next chapter, I plan to reveal more about Mr. Bad First Impression, (as Mata Nui's Number One Fan so aptly named him).

Review, please!


	12. Chapter 12

New chapter, YAY! We finally find out what happened. Also, being the ludicrous Tahu/Gali nut that I am, I slipped a...somewhat...subtle...hint in this one. Really I'm not sure what it is. XD

Thanks to my awesome reviewers InTheLight1396, Mata Nui's Number One Fan, TigerToa, TasumiDreamer, and Rocketfist.

Disclaimer: I only own the humans in here.

* * *

Linda sat on the edge of the wall, her feet dangling over the glowing lava and her bag next to her with the precious sketchbook safe inside. Her thoughts wandered aimlessly, from how her life was going to play out in Ta-Koro, to what A.J. might be thinking now, to the verbal thrashing of Tahu. This last memory brought a smirk to her face, but something else poked at her mind. She snapped her fingers. _Gali never told me what the big deal is about humans._

She got up, picked up her bag, and hung it on her shoulder. After a nerve-wracking, slow climb back to the ground, Linda took off at a run, calling Gali's name and skillfully dodging Matoran.

"Gali? Gali! Ga—Oof!" She slammed into a broad, armored chest and fell on her backside. "Tahu, where's Gali?" She climbed up to her feet and looked up at him expectantly.

"Hello to you, too," Tahu snapped, glowering down at her.

"Well, where is she? Have you seen her anywhere?" Linda set her hands on her hips. "It sure seems you should, considering whenever you're not watching me, you're stalking her."

Tahu scowled briefly, inwardly grateful for his already-red mask. "She left for her own village this morning, while you were asleep."

Linda's shoulder's sagged. "Why didn't she wake me?"

"You were asleep. She didn't want to bother you. She told me to tell you she said goodbye."

Linda sighed. "Okay."

Tahu noticed she was disappointed and asked, "What did you want to ask her?"

Linda looked up into his eyes. "Why do you assume I just wanted to ask her something?"

Tahu rolled his eyes. "You don't usually run around the village yelling because you just want to chat. You wanted to learn something from her. What?"

The human girl blew her bangs off her face and replied, "I'd rather just ask her instead of telling you what I wanted to ask her."

"Ask Turaga Vakama," Tahu advised. "If anyone knows more than Gali, it's him."

Linda thought about that. "Okay. Thanks."

* * *

"Excuse me, Turaga?" Linda asked tentatively. "There's something I've been wanting to find out."

Vakama turned and asked, "Yes, what?"

"Well," Linda sat down cross-legged on the floor and rubbed her elbow anxiously. "I've kinda noticed that…well, humans apparently very popular. Why is that?"

Vakama's brow lowered. He knew she might be wondering that. "Do you really want the answer?"

"Uh, yeah! That's kinda why I came in here."

"Best get comfortable, then. It's quite the long story."

Linda shifted her position so she could drape her arms around her knees. "Okay. Go ahead."

Vakama gripped his staff and began, "Years ago, there were no humans or any kind of creature that was fully organic. That changed one day, when a flying machine crashed on our island, and a strange, fleshy creature crawled out. He was a human, of course, but none of us had ever encountered or even heard of one before. When the Toa approached him, he attacked with some kind of thundering weapon and fled.

"The Toa feared him. We all did. He was a threat none of us knew anything about. The Toa unleashed their powers on him, but he weathered all of it. He attacked the Toa, but they seemed weak by comparison. It seemed they were at an impasse. But then…" Vakama lowered his head. Linda leaned forward. "Then what?"

"He found a more effective way to strike at the Toa: the Matoran. The Toa are our guardians, so harming the Matoran was as good as harming the Toa. He hunted and caught Matoran, using them as bait or simply tormenting them, sometimes for some kind of information. He even terrorized our villages, when he could find one."

Linda stared at the floor, taking in this story. "So…then what? Where is he now?"

"He's dead," Tahu's gruff voice cut in. Linda turned sharply to see him leaning against the doorway.

"What makes you so sure?" Linda asked.

Tahu glanced at Vakama, then focused on Linda. "You really want to know, come with me," he told her, then turned and walked away.

Linda got to her feet, left the Turaga's hut and followed the Toa to the wall.

"Okay, so what's the story?"

Tahu sighed. "Gali called a meeting. While she was waiting for the rest of us to arrive, the human ambushed her and knocked her mask off. By the time I and the others arrived, her armor was cracked on one shoulder and she had severely weakened. We barely thought twice, or in my case, once. I unleashed almost all my power on him, as did the others. I was so angry I scarcely heard him screaming. When we finally stopped, he was hardly standing. One of his arms was broken in so many places, I doubt he'd ever be able to use it again. One of his feet was crooked, and his face…" Tahu shuddered. "Half of it was either charred or half-melted. He looked at us – I wasn't even sure he could see clearly out of one of his eyes – then fled."

Linda stared at the Toa in a kind of disbelief, then asked, "You didn't follow him?"

"No. We were too worried about Gali to bother with him. We never saw any sign of him again, so we decided he must have died after that."

Linda frowned. "Well…that explains a lot. Thanks…I guess."

Tahu nodded. "You're welcome."

Linda turned to leave, but then paused. "Hey…you mentioned other Toa. How many of you are there?"

"Six. Why?"

"Just wondering. Can I… meet the other four sometime?"

"…All right. You can come with me next time there's a meeting."

Linda smiled. "Great. And thanks. You know, for...you know."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Elsewhere, a bent figure limped down the path in a shallow canyon, his thin-fingered right hand grasping the stone wall while the other arm dangled limply by his side. He staggered into a cave with a pool of clear water and a ragged mat. He collapsed near the pool's edge, gasping for breath and resting half his weight on his shaking right arm. The shaggy-haired head flopped down onto the surface and the figure drank deeply. When he lifted his head up again, he caught sight of his reflection and stared at it, ignoring the water dripping from the tips of his hair and distorting it. The left side of his face was a mass of charred skin and scar tissue, surrounding a milky eye that could never quite focus. His lips had lost their distinction and curved down on his afflicted side, a result of the half-healed partially melted flesh. His narrow nostrils flared at the sight of his own grotesque face. "Curse that Toa," he muttered, his voice hoarse and cracking. "May he die in his own flames."

The human pushed himself back into the least painful sitting position and let his thoughts wander to the girl. He had been watching her for some time now. He knew what those creatures were capable of, but he had not seen any sign of them attacking her. In fact, they almost seemed…kind to her. Maybe she was somehow on their side. And if that was the case…he didn't need to worry. She would be all right. But if any of those Toa hurt her, he would…

_**You would…what? You can hardly keep yourself alive. What makes you think you can take care of someone else as well?**_

The human looked around. _Who's there?_

_**A fellow enemy of the Toa…who can help you.**_

_How could _you _help _me?

_**Your wounds can be fixed.**_

_I…don't believe you._ The human struggled to squelch the treacherous hope rising in him.

_**Yes, you do. Deep within the shadows of your heart, I see you believe me.**_

"What…do you…know about me?" His hoarse voice croaked defiantly.

_**You hate the Toa. You hate what they have done to you. You hate knowing that you are alone in the world.**_

_I...…SHUT UP!_

_**You want to be healed. You want to be sure no other human suffers your fate. And you want to see the Toa die. All these wishes I could easily grant you.**_

The human frowned, thinking hard. He had never encountered this kind of being before. Someone who knew his hopes and desires and was willing to grant them.

_What's the catch?_

_**Simply find me. Find me and I will make you make you healthier, stronger, and more powerful than you ever were before.**_

…_**I will help you kill the Toa.**_

…_I'm listening._

_

* * *

_Ooh...scary cliffie. 0.o So the bad human is joining up with some creepy mysterious voice that we have NO idea who it is. (*cough*yeah right) I hope no one was disappointed with how Mr. Bad First Impression turned out.

I should really just go to bed. Considering it's 12:25 in the morning and tomorrow's a cleaning day and everything.

Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

YAY! I FINISHED ANOTHER CHAPTER! (dances around room spastically waving arms like a fangirl on a sugar rush) Ahem...yes...go on, read it. Thanks to faro665kill, Mata Nui's Number One Fan, TeridaxII, ODST1 (good idea, by the way, I'll see if I can get that in the next chap or the one after that), ToaAlex, TigerToa, Rocketfist, leveluplewa, Amilla Evelan, and InTheLight1396 for reviewing.

Disclaimer:...Do I look like Greg Farshtey? No, I don't. (At least I shouldn't, since I'm a girl)

* * *

Linda stood beside Tahu at the gate of Ta-Koro, grinning eagerly and fiddling with the shoulder strap of her bag as she waited to be let out of the village.

One of the guards shouted to raise the bridge. Linda frowned, slightly confused. "Raise the…?" A rumbling noise from below interrupted her. She peered forward and saw a path literally rise up out of the lava. She let out a long, slow whistle.

"Impressive," she remarked.

Tahu shrugged and stepped forward onto the nearest platform. Linda hurried to keep up with him, constantly glancing over her shoulder to watch the bridge lower behind them, piece by piece. _Okay, that's pretty cool._

The human and Toa hiked over cliffs and mountains, Tahu paying hardly any attention to his surroundings, while Linda was constantly falling behind because she was so busy staring at the fantastic scenery and trying to commit it to memory.

As they walked through the Charred Forest, Linda spotted a patch of dark-reddish-tinted dirt. Her stomach turned a little at the first thought that came to her mind.

"Hey," she asked Tahu. "Is this the place you found me?"

"Around here."

Linda surveyed the gray woods, thinking. Just a few days ago, she had run into this forest feeling like there was nowhere she could turn for help. Now, she had Gali, Takua, Vakama, and…yes, Tahu. Well, Tahu didn't want to kill her anymore, at least. She glanced down at her upper arm where Vakama had bandaged one of her cuts with the scrap from her jacket, fingered the cloth thoughtfully, and idly picked and pulled at the knot until the cloth fell off her arm and dangled from her fingers. The cut had closed, leaving a faint scar that was likely to fade. Linda smiled and slipped the scrap of cloth into her pocket.

"We're here," Tahu announced.

"Already?" Linda blinked in surprise. She looked around. They were standing on the entrance to what looked like an ancient temple. "What's this place?"

"Kini-Nui," Tahu replied. "The Great Temple."

"Great is right," Linda remarked, slightly awed, taking a few steps forward to check it out.

"Hey, Tahu-brother! What's the squishy-thing doing here?"

Linda turned to see Lewa standing on the edge of the forest with one arm pointing straight at her.

"Did no one tell you it's not polite to point?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lewa ignored her, to her irritation. He focused solely on Tahu. "Why did you bring a human-female here? I thought you said—"

"I know what I said! It was either make sure all humans don't know we exist, or let her die. I found her in the Charred Forest."

"Oh." Lewa looked a little sheepish. "So, what's the ideaplan for her?"

"She's staying in Ta-Koro."

"HELLO-O," Linda called out, waving one hand over her head, then pointing down at herself. "She's standing right here!"

Lewa turned and actually looked at her. "Hello-hi! I am Lewa Nuva, Toa-hero of Air."

Linda grinned. She liked his way of talking. "I'm Linda. It's nice to meet you."

Lewa frowned slightly and leaned forward to look at her face closely. "When did you get those face-marks?"

Linda stepped back. "Oh… I ran into a…an ash bear."

"Maybe you should wait until the other Toa come," Tahu suggested. "So you don't have to repeat it whenever a Toa shows up."

"Sounds good," Linda replied.

As she shifted her weight and adjusted her bag, Lewa looked at her thoughtfully. Brown hair, female, big-to-a-Matoran-small-to-a-Toa… aside from the scars on her face and different cloth-armor, she could fit the description that the Le-Matoran had given him of the human-scout in the jungle. That would also explain how she would be someplace where Tahu could find her, and maybe even how she knew what an ash bear was.

His thoughts were interrupted by the approach of a powerful black Toa. Linda swallowed hard at the sight of him. Tahu, Gali and Lewa were tall, but _this_ guy was…_big. _He was just as tall as Tahu and Lewa, but his shoulders were wider and gave him an overall more powerful appearance. He looked at Linda with glowing green eyes. She nervously stepped behind Tahu.

"Greetings, Onua," Tahu greeted the big, scary black Toa.

Onua nodded. "I suppose you have a good reason for bringing a human here," he remarked, gesturing toward the girl behind Tahu.

"He foundsaved her in the Charred Forest," Lewa explained.

"Don't worry about her," Tahu reassured his brother. "She's a friend."

"Who's a friend?"

An equally large and powerful-looking brown-armored Toa jumped over a nearby plateau and started at the sight of Linda. "What's a human doing here?"

Linda rolled her eyes while Tahu sighed. "She's harmless, Pohatu. Don't worry."

Pohatu peered at her curiously. Linda raised a hand in greeting. "Hello."

The big Toa nodded. "Well, a friend of any of my brothers is a friend of mine," he decided, to Linda's relief.

A wave of cold rippled through the air. Linda turned around and saw a white Toa appear, bringing an aura of cold with him. His mask had a round lens over his right eye, and his left eye was ice blue. His cold gaze landed on Linda and stayed there. Unnerved, Linda moved to put Lewa, Tahu, and Pohatu between herself and the white Toa.

"Welcome, brother Kopaka!" Pohatu cheerily acknowledged the Toa. "Tahu's brought a friend. Perhaps you'd like to meet her?"

"I don't think I want to meet _him_," Linda muttered under her breath. Kopaka silently regarded her, then ignored her, to the human's relief. Even better, she saw a blue-armored figure step out of the forest.

"Gali! Hi!" Linda waved. Gali looked surprised, but pleased to see her and waved back with a smile.

"Linda! What are you doing here?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Everyone asks that," she muttered.

"She got out on good behavior," Tahu explained.

"Okay, so what's the human's story?" Pohatu asked. "Why is she here?"

"My name's Linda," she replied, now standing beside Gali.

"You said she was a friend," Onua told Tahu. "How did that happen?"

Tahu explained how he had found Linda in the Charred Forest, unconscious and bleeding, and brought her to Ta-Koro. He and Gali described to the other Toa how Linda was different from the other humans. "She's nothing like the first human."

Gali turned sharply to him. "She knows about him?"

"Vakama and I told her," Tahu responded.

"So what do we do about the humanvillage?" Lewa asked. "Are we still going to…?" He made a lot of fast gestures. Linda remembered listening to their conversation before. The one about completely devastating the human settlement.

Tahu shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.

Linda went over and sat on a rock with a scowl. Fine. Let them level the place. What did she care? They had practically run her out of the village. She had nearly died.

She opened her bag and reached inside for her sketchpad. Instead, her fingers touched something hard and metal. Frowning, she grasped it and pulled it out. At the sight of it, she gasped and nearly dropped it.

'_Tyrone's pocketknife.'_

Linda looked at it curiously. _'How'd this get in my bag?'_ She remembered Tyrone had kept his knife in her room, so people would be more likely to think it belonged to her. _'Well, it's mine for real now, Tyrone,' _Linda thought grimly as she shoved it in her pocket. _Hope you don't miss it._

When she looked up, Lewa was standing right in front of her, eyeing her carefully. Linda swallowed hard and cleared her throat.

"Ummm," she stammered. This green guy was making her nervous. Not the way Tahu had, with his "Make me too mad and I'll make you want to die" attitude. No, Lewa made her nervous like… she'd think that over later. When he wasn't openly staring at her. He was still doing it, by the way.

"Has anyone told you it's not polite to stare?" she asked testily.

Lewa backed off somewhat, but still did not take his eyes off her face.

Linda scowled. "Seriously, what are you staring at?"

Lewa shrugged. "You seemlook like someone I've glimpsed-seen before."

"Really?" Linda narrowed her eyes slightly. "And this concerns me, why?"

Lewa shrugged again and rejoined the other Toa. Linda sighed, snatched her sketchpad out of her bag, and flipped it open to the Toa page. _'Let's see, this one is Kopaka, this is Po… Pohatu, I think, and this is-'_

"What's this you're scribble-doing?" Her sketchpad was out of her hands and above her head before she could fully process that Lewa had somehow gotten behind her. Now he was holding it up and looking at it.

"Hey, she drew pictures of us!" he exclaimed loudly to the other Toa.

"GIVE ME THAT!" Linda yelled, jumping up and grasping at the book that kept moving just out of her reach.

"Hey, you forgot Tahu's head!" Lewa replied. _'Oh, heck no,' _Linda thought frantically.

"What?" Tahu blinked. "Let me see that."

"I did not!" Linda shouted. "I remembered the head, I just…um, got a little upset with him."

Tahu had taken the sketchpad from Lewa and was looking at Linda's still-headless representation of him. "So, you erased my head?"

Linda opened her mouth, closed it, and shrugged. "Pretty much. Come to think of it, it did make me feel better."

Lewa bent over, howling in laughter. Gali, Onua, and Pohatu stifled their own laughs, and Kopaka smirked. Tahu just stared at her.

Linda grinned back at him until he couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

Elsewhere, the human male limped down a dank tunnel, guided by the dark voice in his mind urging him onward.

_**You're nearly there. Just a little farther and you will see me.**_

He nodded firmly and stumbled, pausing to grip the wall, but keeping his face set. The whispers, coupled with the thoughts of what he would do to the Toa once he was strong and able again, gave him just enough strength to keep moving.

The shadows around him grew deeper, and the whispers grew steadily stronger. _**So close… can you feel my presence?**_

_I just thought this place was creepy,_ the young man thought. He reached a cavern with a massive door on the other side. He felt a rush of nervous anticipation rise in him. He pushed off from the wall and half-ran, half-staggered toward the door. Gasping for air, he stumbled and crashed to the ground almost halfway across the chamber. He groaned and turned his head so his face wasn't in the sand. _I can't do it._

Just as he finished this thought, he felt something lift him off the ground and carry him the rest of the way.

_**Well done, human. You have found me. Your reward awaits.**_

_**

* * *

**_So Linda has now met all the Toa, though I really feel like I could have done that bit better. I still had fun with it, though. Especially with Lewa. XD Oh, Lewa...


	14. Chapter 14

Here's another update! Turned out a lot shorter than I intended, and took a long time to get it done. Sorry. :( But the REAL action's coming next chapter! :D Thanks to my reviewers InTheLight1396, Amilla Evelan, leveluplewa, Rocketfist, TigerToa, Alex, Mata Nui's Number One Fan, and TeridaxII. You guys are all awesome. :)

Disclaimer: Bionicle isn't mine. Linda and the other human are.

* * *

Lewa snatched Linda's sketch pad back and started to play with the edge of the page. "What other stuff have you scribble-drawn?" he asked.

Linda's eyes widened. _He crossed the line before; now he can't even SEE it anymore! _She lunged and grabbed Lewa's arm, trying to take her book back. "Give it back now!"

"Brother," Gali cleared her throat. "You should probably let her take it back. She does not like it when someone takes something belonging to her. Trust me, I've seen what she'll do."

Lewa thought over her suggestion. He usually didn't think anything over, but the human dangling on his arm gave him reason to spend two seconds mulling it over. And in two seconds, Linda was able to pry her precious stolen treasure out of his green fingers and hug it to her chest, glaring at the Toa of Air.

Lewa shrugged and tried to grin at the girl. She just turned and walked back to her rock and sat down, not looking at Lewa. The other Toa returned to discreetly discussing the issue of humans on the island. Lewa just stood there, watching Linda return her book to her bag and slap it shut. _What's her mad-problem? _He wondered. _Humans make no truesense at all. _

* * *

Linda carefully tucked her sketch pad into her bag under her other belongings and fastened it securely shut. _Seriously, what is that airhead's problem? _She thought, still irritated. _It makes no sense. _She sighed, crossed her arms over her chest, and observed the Toa as they talked and argued. She mentally took note of their stances and watched with interest as they interacted with each other. _It must be nice to be a Toa, _she thought. Being able to command the elements, being looked up to as heroes. She noticed Tahu sneak a glance at Gali every other second, like he was making sure nothing had grabbed her and dragged her away into the jungle since the last time he had checked. Linda smirked, but quickly wiped it off when she remembered Tahu telling her about when Gali was attacked. It made sense that he would be so worried about her wellbeing. _I'm still pretty sure he likes her that way, though, _she thought.

What would it be like to have someone so concerned about her safety? Someone who wouldn't think twice about doing something like melting half of someone's face off to protect her? Linda sighed. That would be nice, but she had learned long ago that there was no point in wishing for something she was unlikely to receive. Relationships like that were for other people, people with true parents and real families. She may have friends, but she had learned that in the end, she had to look out for herself.

* * *

He woke up on a hard table that felt like stone. He tried to sit up, but found something was holding him down. All he could see was darkness around him.

_Where am I? What…why can't I move? _He wondered blearily. _What's going on?_

Something in the darkness shifted and approached. A form darker than its surroundings stood over him, two blood red eyes looked down on him, taking in the human's blackened arm, crooked leg, and scarred, disfigured face. A low, harsh voice filled the chamber and his mind, _**"I can see why you have come so far, human."**_

The young man was suddenly filled with a sort of awe. "You're…the one…who spoke to me…" he coughed out. The dark being's head bobbed slightly.

"_**You have earned strength and power beyond what this body alone can give you."**_

He looked down at his arm and leg. "What…do you mean?"

"_**Your injured limbs shall be made stronger than they ever were before."**_

Something seemed unnatural, in the worst way possible. He realized with a shock, as a set of clawed fingers descended to hover over his face, that he had been a fool, a pawn.

Images and sounds roared through his mind as pain unlike any other ripped through his form. He saw the Toa die agonizing deaths, one by one. He heard Tahu's pained and enraged scream, Gali's death cry, Lewa's final breath. Then the girl appeared. Her eyes were filled with rage, pain, determination…and hatred. She pulled out a knife and charged, weapon raised to strike. Then he saw a black metal hand shoot out and grab her by the throat. As her eyes bulged, her mouth gaped open, and her lips turned blue, he followed the arm with his eyes until he came to his own shoulder.

"No," he gasped. "I didn't…I don't want this!"

The girl went limp, and he dropped her, backing away a few steps. The voice laughed darkly.

_**You seemed to want it badly when I spoke to you in your cave.**_

"You said nothing about killing her! I only wanted to kill the Toa!"

_**And so you shall. You will make a marvelous pawn.**_

"What? NO! I…I am no one's pawn! I… I am…I am…

…_I am Makuta's humble servant…_"

* * *

Onua frowned and knelt to feel the ground's vibrations. Tahu turned.

"What is it, Onua?" He asked, sensing the answer wouldn't be good.

"Something's happened," Onua answered grimly. "I don't know what, but I'm sure it's dangerous." Onua frowned deeply. "I believe we may be dealing with another threat very soon."

An image appeared in Linda's mind: a young man with a face half-covered with burn scars. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment.

_Tahu said he was dead, _she thought. _But what if he isn't?_

_

* * *

_A/N: Yes, not that great chapter. Sorry. Again. But I have high expectations for the next one!

Okay, did the part with Mr. BFI creep anyone else out? Because I got scared writing it! Probably didn't help that it was at midnight and I kept thinking of a _Nightmare on Elm Street _trailer...

Reviews motivate me! So please review!


	15. Chapter 15

Woohoooooo! I finally finished chapter 15! Writer's block has not won this battle! *imaginary crowd: YAAAAAAAYYYYYY!* Now I have to get to work on Chapter 16. *imaginary crowd: awwwwww.*

To those who have asked: No, Linda is not getting any special powers. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but I prefer Linda having no special powers or abilities beyond anything I have seen exhibited in real life. And for the record, Mr. BFI isn't getting any special darkness powers, either.

Thanks go to MN#1F, Hunter Alexander Crane, dreamer, smileyfox5150, Rhavis, TigerToa, Rocketfist, InTheLight1396, wolf girl118, and Amilla Evelan for taking the time to review.

Disclaimer: ...*stare*...

* * *

Linda clutched the strap of her bag tightly, the image of the scarred young man flitting along the edges of her mind like a barely-remembered nightmare. The Toa were hastily saying their goodbyes, anxious to return to their villages and ensure their safety. Tahu called Linda's name, and she got to her feet to go with him. Lewa was next to her in seconds. Linda arched an eyebrow at him.

"What?" she asked flatly.

"I still think-say I've seen you before," Lewa told her. Linda rolled her eyes.

"Whoop dee doo, like I care," she responded and walked away from him. "Later."

Tahu walked briskly through the forest, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't lost Linda and tell her to pick up the pace. Linda was jogging to keep Tahu in sight and occasionally breaking into a run to catch up with him, only to fall behind again. By the time they were in the Charred Forest, Linda was almost considering asking Tahu to just carry her and save the both of them some trouble. But she had always despised doing things the easy way, so she just would just have to grit her teeth and tough it out.

Once they were inside the village, Tahu went straight to talk with Vakama, leaving Linda alone. She didn't mind in the least; she wanted to be alone anyway. Without anyone openly staring at her and stealing her sketchbook.

"Hey, Linda!"

"You're back!"

Linda turned to see Takua and Jaller run up to greet her, Pewku on their heels. She grinned wide.

"Hey, guys! Miss me?" She dropped down on one knee to be eye level with them when they reached her.

Takua reached her first and immediately bombarded her with questions. "Did you meet the Toa Did they like you Did you like them Did something happen—"

Jaller interrupted his friend with one question. "How was the meeting?"

Linda smiled and shrugged her left shoulder. "It was…okay."

"Okay how?" Takua asked.

"Okay, as in none of the Toa attacked me, but I have little interest in spending lots of time with some of them."

"Which of them?"

"Well, Kopaka," she coughed the rest out, "And Lewa."

"What?" Takua asked. "Did you say something about Toa Lewa?"

Linda cleared her throat again. "Um…no?"

Jaller frowned. "I thought you did. But if you say so." He shrugged.

Pewku slammed into Linda, knocking her over. "Oof!" she exclaimed and laughed. "Hello to you, too, Pewku." She patted the crab's shell and sat up.

"So, where's Toa Tahu?" Takua asked. Linda shrugged. "Talking to Turaga Vakama, I think."

"Why? Did something happen?"

Linda got onto her knees and felt a knot form in her stomach. "Actually, something did. I…think things are going to be pretty tough for a while now."

Takua and Jaller's eyes widened. "Why?

Linda explained that Onua had said there would be another threat to deal with soon. "I think it was underground or something."

"You don't think it was…Makuta, do you?" Takua asked softly.

"Who?" Linda blinked, trying to ignore the cold shiver that zipped along her spine at the very sound of the name. The young man appeared in her mind again, but this time she didn't see the burns on his face. In place of burnt, charred skin, there was…something dark and smooth-looking. Before she could figure out was it could be, the image was gone, and no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not get it back.

All this had happened in a few seconds, just before Jaller began explaining who Makuta was.

"Makuta is our enemy. He wants to take over Mata Nui. We thought the Toa had defeated him, though."

"Like they thought they'd defeated the first human?" Linda murmured.

* * *

A.J. sighed and closed the book she was reading. She simply could not stop worrying about what was going to happen to the village, what had happened to Linda. Plus, she had read the whole thing through several times already. One can only read the same mystery novel so many times.

Leaves rustled and a twig snapped outside. A.J. frowned and turned to listen carefully. No one should be out there right now. Her eyes widened. Maybe Linda had come back. She rushed to the door, pulled it open, and ran out, looking around. No sign of Linda, or anyone. She sighed and turned to go back inside, when the sound of footsteps came from behind her. She turned back around, brow puckered. She didn't see anyone around, but someone was there, just the same. She walked out into the trees.

* * *

He staggered through the forest, one leg faltering slightly, and grimaced at all the noise he made. And so near to that village! Someone was bound to come investigating any minute now. He smirked coldly, lifting his new hand to his face. _Let him come. I shall show him what Makuta is capable of. _He moved on, heading for the Kini-Nui. Leaves rustled, and he heard footsteps. He paused, then turned to threaten the miserable creature that had tracked him down. Instead of the shaking Matoran he had assumed was behind him, there was a human woman standing there, staring at him in shock. He started in surprise. What was she doing here?

* * *

A.J. stood frozen, gaping at the creature before her in horror. He looked like some kind of cyborg. The right side of him looked normal for a human…riddled with scars, but human. His left side, however, was covered with dark metal, down to his fingertips. She looked up into his eyes, one human, the other glowing red from behind a black mask.

He lurched forward, resting his weight on his human leg. He opened his mouth and a hoarse, deep voice croaked out, "Anna?"

A.J. gasped and jolted slightly. This…thing knew her? She narrowed her eyes. Now that she thought of it, he did look somewhat familiar. Realization struck her like a blow to her skull.

"Jason? Is that you?" she whispered, increasingly horrified.

"Yes," he took a deep, ragged breath. "It's me."

"What…What on Earth happened to you?" A.J. asked, concerned. "We all thought you were dead!"

He lowered his head and cradled it in his human palm. "It's…this island. It does things to you. Creatures…voices…visions… you should get out of here while you still can."

A.J. shook her head. "I can't. I'm looking for someone who needs me. Why don't you come with me, help me find her?"

"No. You have to get out of here, away from me. It's probably too late for your friend, and it's far too late for me. Don't even try to save me, Anna, you'll only hurt yourself."

She looked at him. "I don't believe that." She reached out to touch his arm. "Come on. There must be something that can be done to help you."

"No!" He cried out, taking a few steps back. "Stay away! Get out of my sight, before-"

"Jason," she entreated him calmly and soothingly. "Please, just let me help you."

"NO!"

Hard metal fingers closed around A.J.'s windpipe and her feet left the ground. She gasped in shock as she stared at him with wide eyes. The fearful, uncertain young man was gone, replaced by a cold, emotionless, human-shaped monster. He looked her straight in the eyes, then she was flying through the air.

A crack roared through her skull, and blackness filled her vision. She vaguely heard footsteps walking away, then…

Silence.

* * *

He continued to walk away from the still form, face stonily stoic. For a brief moment, his human eye widened, and blinked dazedly, staring off into space. Then he regained his composure and continued on, ignoring the drop of salty liquid trickling down his face.

He walked until he saw the Kini-Nui ahead. He lowered into a half-crouch and sneaked closer, hoping for any bright spots of color that indicated Toa.

A bright blue figure stood atop a tall plateau. Better yet, alone. _Does she never learn?_

A smirk pulled his distorted lips back, and he stepped forward. Time to begin living out his fantasies.

* * *

Ugh, I'm really sorry, reviewers who kept asking about A.J. XC I promise, I didn't kill her!

Reviews of any kind are greatly appreciated and I will try to respond to signed reviews ASAP.


	16. Chapter 16

Yay! Another chapter! And this one only took a month. That feels like some kinda record. XD Oh my gosh, I just realized what a slow writer I am. and for that, I apologize, dear readers.

Disclaimer: I actually do own Bionicle. APRIL FOOLS! :D ...Mata Nui, I need sleep. -.-

* * *

Gali stood over the Kini-Nui, thinking. The coming of the first human had changed things forever, she knew. Nothing could ever be the same as it was before the flaming aircraft had crashed on Mata Nui. She sighed deeply. The Toa had a lot on their hands now, what with dealing with the humans and this new, unknown threat. For a moment, she wondered if the humans would be willing to help them defend themselves. After all, Linda had set free two Matoran…after a human locked them up. And now Linda was living in Ta-Koro with a dim view of her own kind. Gali shook her head. No, that would not work.

An armored foot landed on the stone behind her. She turned to look and froze in shocked horror.

The one being she had hoped to never see again sneered at her. "I'm back."

* * *

Linda sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning back against the wall around Ta-Koro, staring into space and turning her pencil over and over in her fingers. _Who knew being in a village surrounded by lava could get so dull?_

What was worse was the fact that imminent doom could be waiting just on the edge of the lava lake, and here she was with nothing to do but play with a pencil.

"Hey, what are you staring at?" Takua asked.

"Nothing," Linda blinked and shifted her focus to him. "What do you want?"

Takua plopped down next to her. "What do you think this new threat is? How are the Toa going to fight it?"

Linda shrugged. "I dunno, I'm not psychic."

"Maybe it has something to do with you," Jaller cut in as he approached. "I mean, after the Bohrok were defeated—"

"What?"

"Bohrok. Fully mechanical creatures that looked like bugs and tried to destroy everything. As I was saying, things were pretty peaceful before you and the other humans showed up. Maybe this is somehow linked to you, Linda."

"Excuse me?" Linda sat up ramrod straight and glared at Jaller. "Are you blaming _me _for this?"

"Ah! N-Nononono," Jaller rapidly shook his head and waved his hands in front of him as if to shield himself from the human girl's wrath. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, I didn't mean it was your fault. Just that humans might have something to do with this."

Linda looked at the ground. "I see what you mean. You have a point, Jaller." She sighed and slumped against the wall. "I can definitely see a human causing this trouble."

She sighed and let her head fall back. "this is driving me crazy," she grumbled.

"What is?"

"This…nothing! All we're doing is sitting around and speculating about what might happen." She dropped her pencil in her bag, picked it up and got to her feet. "I'm getting out of here and seeing what I can _learn_ this new threat."

Jaller quickly asked her, "Are you sure the Toa and Turaga will let you out?"

Linda's shoulders drooped along with her expression. "No. I'm pretty sure they won't. Forget what I said."

Another Matoran called Jaller to talk about something. Linda smirked as soon as his back and started off toward the gate. Takua blinked.

"Um, where are you going?"

"Out."

"But we're already outside."

Linda rolled her eyes, stopped, and turned around. "I mean out of the village."

"Oh," Takua blinked again, "But didn't you tell Jaller to forget-?"

"Yes," Linda answered. "That way I can get more time before I have to get back here. Assuming he does forget, which I doubt."

Takua nodded. "Then I guess I should come, too. I am the Chronicler, you know."

Linda grinned. "You know a way out besides the drawbridge?"

"Six."

"Let's go, then."

* * *

Linda groaned as she alternately rubbed and rolled her sore shoulders, and arched her back. "Are all your secret escape routes that cramped?"

Takua shrugged. "I never have any problems with them."

Linda sighed. "Serves me right for sneaking out with a midget," she grumbled.

Takua perked up. "Hey, what's that?"

"What?"

"I heard something," the Matoran answered. "Over…there."

"Let's go, then," Linda hitched up the strap of her bag and started to walk in the direction Takua had pointed, when a voice stopped her.

"And where are you going?"

Linda grimaced and Takua cringed a little. "Oh, hi, Jaller…"

Jaller crossed his arms over his chest.

Linda shoved her hands in her pockets and shifted her gaze. Takua kicked at a pebble. The three stood in this silence for a few minutes. Takua broke the silence with, "Ummm…" He pointed over Jaller's shoulder. "LOOK, JALLER! A DISTRACTION!"

Jaller rolled his eyes. "Very funny. I'm not falling for that, Takua."

Takua and Linda said nothing and merely fixed their eyes on something behind Jaller.

Jaller scowled and resolutely stared at them. He wasn't falling for that again.

Takua tilted his head slightly. Linda copied his motion and squinted one eye. Jaller continued to not look.

Takua shifted to the right, as if to get a slightly better look at this imaginary thing that had captured his attention. Linda leaned to the side and raised an eyebrow. Jaller still was not looking.

Linda's expression changed to one of terror and cried out, "It's coming this way!"

Jaller reflexively jerked his head to the side, but caught himself just in time. "Nice try."

"RUN!" Linda screamed. She and Takua took off like a pair of Husi. Jaller blinked and yelled, "What the-! What are you two trying?" He suddenly got the feeling that there _was _something behind him. Uneasily, he turned to see…

Nothing. Jaller turned back around to see there was no trace of human or Matoran. He groaned and slapped his forehead.

* * *

Linda plopped down on the ground behind a large rock, laughing and gasping for air. "That…" she gasped out. "That was great!"

Takua chuckled and sat down behind his own rock. "Yeah, that was fun. SHHHHH!"

She stifled her giggles and peered around to see Jaller running around, calling out their names and looking quite miffed. A snicker barely escaped her lips before she clamped her lips together firmly and pressed her fingers over them.

She hadn't had this much fun since the time she and a foster sister had pranked that obnoxious neighbor kid.

Jaller turned at the sound of Linda's snicker and walked toward their hiding place. Takua rapidly gestured away from their place, and they took off as quietly as they could. Linda didn't even remember why she had wanted to leave the village in the first place.

She quickly overtook Takua, as usual, and decided to run for the sound of a river.

* * *

Jaller broke into a run at the sound of a girl screaming. He found Linda and Takua standing near a riverbank, Linda's hands clamped over her mouth and eyes wider than he had ever seen them, Takua with a similar look of shock. He followed their gaze and gasped at the still blue form floating along slowly.

Linda unsteadily kneeled down and reached out hesitantly. "G-Gali?"

Jaller turned to Takua. "You stay here with them. I'll get Toa Tahu."

Takua nodded. "Right. Hurry."

Tahu was there in less than five minutes. Linda had managed to grab Gali's arm and was trying to pull the Toa onto the land. Tahu gently pushed the human aside, scooped up his teammate, and carried her back to her village, Linda and the two Matoran following anxiously.

* * *

Linda sat down cross-legged in front of Tahu's hut, trying to calm herself down. In front of her, Takua paced and Jaller stood uneasily. _Okay, _she thought, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. _Everything's okay. Gali's going to be fine. Gali is not going to die. Calm down. You are going to be calm. Calm. I am calm._

Linda opened her eyes and glared at her foot, which had been twitching with nervous energy. _You're not helping. Hold still._ She sighed deeply. _Great. Now I'm talking to my own foot. Clearly, I have issues._

Tahu and Vakama emerged from the door of his hut. Linda jumped to her feet. "So, how is she?"

"She's alive," the Toa of Fire answered. "She's badly hurt, though. I'll have to take her to Ga-Koro. She can heal there."

"Why not here?"

"Water does not do well surrounded by fire," Vakama answered.

Tahu retrieved Gali's still-unconscious body and started for the gate. Linda and the Matoran followed anxiously. "Can we come with you?"

"No."

"But…there's something out there that did this to Gali. If we ran into it, we could help you fight it!" She pulled out Tyrone's—_her_ switchblade and showed it to Tahu. "See, I even have a weapon."

Tahu frowned. "Where did you get that?"

"It fell in my bag. Please, can we come with you?" She entreated him. Takua and Jaller waited anxiously.

Tahu sighed. "Fine. You may come. Just stay close and be careful."

"Thank you, Toa Tahu," Jaller spoke. Linda half-smiled and tucked the switchblade into her pocket.

* * *

Several hours of hiking later, the four stopped on a beach. Linda looked around.

"So…where's the village?" she asked Takua.

The chronicler pointed out on the water.

Linda looked and grimaced. "Oh, out there. On the water. I see," she remarked. "How nice. It's been so long since the last time I got seasick."

* * *

XD I had so much fun with that first part. My brother used to try that exact thing on me all the time. It worked three-quarters of the time, I'm ashamed to admit. XD

Next chapter: we check up on A.J., and meet a couple more Matoran. :D

Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

YES, it's up! It's finally up! After struggling with writer's block for over a month, and spending the better part of a day unsuccessfully trying to upload it and silently cursing the document manager, IT'S FINALLY UP! YES! *victory dance*

Thanks to MouseyCat, V Fan 217 (Your 11 reviews were a delight to receive), Dr. Edward Richtofen, TigerToa, leveluplewa, and InTheLight-Hija, Rocketfist, and Editor-nee-chan for your reviews.

Disclaimer: "Caw, Caw!" Oh, look at that, it's a bird! Look at that pretty bird!

* * *

Linda sat in front of a healer's hut made of seaweed, knees pulled up to her chin and arms around her legs. Her bag lay untouched beside her; she didn't feel up to drawing anything. She watched the waves undulate and lap against the edge of the giant lily pad she sat on. She sighed deeply.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Takua asked her. Linda looked up at him and shrugged.

"I'm sitting outside a hut worrying my head off while my friend is unconscious from a majorly nasty beating and who or whatever almost killed her is out there somewhere. Also I'm on a lily pad in the middle of the freakin' ocean."

Takua cocked his head and sat down. "I'll wait with you, if that makes you feel better."

"Really? Thanks."

Takua shrugged. "Well, it's not like I have anything else to do. Jaller's consoling Hahli somewhere, so—"

"Who?" Linda straightened her legs halfway and looked at him.

"Hahli. She's a friend of Jaller."

Linda raised an eyebrow, amused. "What kind of friend?"

Takua blinked, utterly clueless. "Huh?"

"Never mind."

Tahu stepped out of the hut, an unreadable expression on his mask. Linda and Takua scrambled to their feet. "So?" Linda asked. "How is she?"

"She'll live," Tahu answered, looking out over Linda's head at the ocean behind her.

Linda smiled and sighed in relief. "Good." She looked back up at the Toa of Fire. "So, what's the problem?"

"She still won't wake up," Tahu answered. "It's been hours already. Nothing that I know of has ever been able to render a Toa unconscious for this long."

Linda folded her arms over her chest uncomfortably. She shifted. "Can…I go in?"

Tahu thought for a moment before nodding and turning to Takua. Linda hesitantly entered the hut, linking and twisting her fingers together in her anxiety. Gali lay on a Toa-sized pallet, eyes dark and armor covered with thin cracks. The human girl stepped closer, taking in the sight of the beaten-up Toa. She sat down on a small stool and watched her friend breathe. _What happened?_ She wondered. _And what now?_

* * *

Lewa swung through the trees, keeping an eye on the ground below and wondering about what kind of danger they were in. Maybe the humans had something to do with the whole thing. That first human had certainly—_What's that?_

He landed on a branch and looked back down. It looked like another human, lying on the ground, perfectly still. Lewa jumped down to the ground and crouched beside the human. Female, older than Linda, light-colored hair pulled back into a knot-looking thing in the back of her head, cloth-armor in much better condition than Linda's. She looked like she was dead.

Tentatively, Lewa reached out and poked her shoulder. He got a weak little moan in response. The human's eyelids flickered but remained shut. He poked her again. This time, she partially opened her eyes, but they didn't appear to be working properly.

"Are you okaywell?" Lewa asked.

"Wha…?" the human asked dully. She sat up slowly and blinked, but her eyes didn't seem to be focusing.

"I'll thinktake that as a 'no'."

"Ugh…my head…" she groaned, rubbing a spot on the back of her head.

"Must have hithurt it on that rock," Lewa surmised.

She continued to rub her head, and asked, "Where did he go?"

"Who?"

"J-Jason…did you see where he went?" She still wasn't looking at him.

"I haven't seen any junglewandering humans around."

At "humans", she finally turned to look straight at him. Her eyes widened and she lurched to her feet, struggling to get away.

"Whoa, hey!" Lewa exclaimed. "Easycalm, I'm going to painhurt you."

She turned and ran off. Lewa jumped to his feet and followed. He found her on the ground, struggling to get up and failing.

"You're badhurt," Lewa said. "Let me aidhelp you."

The woman dropped her head in defeat and allowed Lewa to lift her up and sling her over his shoulder. As he leaped back into the trees with the aid of his mask, he could feel the woman sob hopelessly, but was helpless to do anything about it.

* * *

Tahu quietly entered the hut. He had sent Takua out to find the other Toa for a meeting and spent the rest of the afternoon pondering what had attacked Gali. Part of him wanted to go out and hunt down whoever had done this and burn them alive, but his concern for Gali kept him from going anywhere.

He looked around inside the hut. Gali was still unconscious, and Linda had drifted off, her head on her forearms. Tahu smiled slightly, gently slipped his hands under her arms and lifted her off the stool and lay her down on the floor, where she subconsciously curled up without waking up. Tahu sighed. He was probably getting more attached to this girl than he should be.

A weak moan interrupted his thoughts. Tahu turned to see Gali stirring weakly.

"Gali, are you alright?"he asked.

Gali nodded slowly. "I... will be. How did I...?"

"Linda, Takua, Jaller found you in a river in Ta-Wahi. What happened? Who did this to you?"

"It was...him."

"Who?"

"Tahu," Gali paused to collect herself. "He's back."

* * *

So, A.J. has been found, Gali is awake, and Tahu knows the bad human's back. And we still know nothing of his relationship to A.J. Yay...Oh, wait, I said we were going to meet Hahli, didn't I? Darn, looks like I lied. Sorry about that. I'll try to get her in the next chapter.

Wow, I just realized I've been writing this for over a year now. Time goes by fast, doesn't it?

I predict the next chapter will take a long time to finish, as I have a college course to complete, and after that my brother is going to install Portal 2 on my computer, which is bound to eat up a day or seven of my life, and after that...I'm sure something will come up. I will try to get it done soon, but don't hold your breath.

Oh, I almost forgot. I got this idea for sometime later in the story where Linda has this Alice in Wonderland-esque dream and meets some characters I made for another fandom. It probably won't have a lot to do with the story itself, but the plot bunny has settled in, so I really want to write it. So, my question is, would you guys like to see that as an omake or something, or should I just not publish it? Help me out here, please.

Reviews?


	18. Chapter 18

Well, a new completed chapter. I hope it makes up for the obscenely long time it took to write. CURSE YOU, INTERNET! CURSE YOU MORE, WILD PLOTBUNNIES! *Shakes fist*

Anyway, the random music lyrics I put in this chapter are from the song "Exile Vilify" by the National. Some of the lyrics made me think of Linda, A.J., and Jason the minute I heard them, so I took lyrics and put them in where applicable.

Disclaimer: Bionicle is not mine. Neither is Exile Vilify.

* * *

"_Exile...It takes your mind...again..."_

* * *

Linda woke up to yellow-orange rays of sunlight shining directly into her eyes. She flinched at the intrusively bright light, covered her eyes with her hand, and blinked a few times. She noticed that she was lying on the floor near the wall. _I don't remember falling asleep here. Did someone move me?_

"Ah, you're awake," Tahu observed from his place beside Gali, who was still sleeping.

"She's still asleep?" Linda asked, sitting up and stretching and yawning.

"She went back to sleep, actually," Tahu corrected her. "She woke up sometime last evening after you fell asleep."

"She woke up?" Linda tried to jump to her feet, but only managed to awkwardly scramble to a fully upright position, getting blinded again in the process. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed your sleep as much as she did," Tahu snapped. "I was only looking out for you. Besides, she will wake up later."

Linda huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, but let it slide. "So what happened?"

Tahu related his and Gali's exchange to the teen.

"...she told me he was the one who attacked her."

"Who?"

Tahu didn't answer, only stared at the ground.

"_WHO?"_ Linda repeated, fists tightly clenched and muscles tense.

Tahu got up and walked out of the hut without a word, ignoring Linda's "Tahu?". For a moment, silence hung in the air of the hut, Linda standing in a confrontational pose and staring at the door while Gali continued to "sleep off" her injuries. Then Linda, overcome with frustration, stamped her foot on the floor, which just caused the floor to undulate slightly. "Dangit, Tahu!"

Linda groaned loudly and sat down to wait and see if Gali would wake up again soon. She began to think over the past few days. The scarred face briefly flashed in her mind's eye, only to vanish.

She sighed and leaned back against the plantlike wall. She didn't want to try drawing; she'd probably end up drawing that face or Gali's broken body or something equally morbid. All she could do was wonder. Who was that guy? Why did she keep seeing him? Ever since Tahu had told her about the first time humans and Toa met...

Wait.

Was that it?

Linda crossed her arms over her chest as Tahu passed by the doorway, apparently preoccupied with something. Really, she should be dead by now. Clearly, humans did not belong here.

But Tahu had rescued her. Gali had healed her. Vakama had watched over her. Takua and Jaller had befriended her.

But not that other human. He had probably died a slow, painful, lonely death, caused by the very Toa who kept her safe in his village. Assuming he _was_ dead.

Why did she have it so much better than he had?

She lightly ran her fingertips over the scabbed-over claw wounds. She had almost forgotten about them. They no longer hurt, and she had grown used to the pulling sensation the healing skin gave when she smiled. She shifted her focus to the bandage on her arm. Those cuts were probably all healed now, but she left the bandages in place for the moment. They reminded her that someone in the human village had cared about her.

* * *

"_Does it feel like a trial? Does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine?"_

* * *

A.J. sat on the mat that had been provided for her when Lewa had placed her in the hut, where more of the small creatures that Linda had freed scuttled around outside, chattering in their bizarre slang. The one whom she presumed was the elder often came in to treat the wound on the back of her head. She had heard him say something about Lewa calling a meeting and sending out scouts to find other "junglewandering" humans. At the moment, she couldn't really find it in her to care. All her thoughts were on Jason and Linda. How could Jason have injured her like that? What on earth had happened to him? The old Jason would have never have let anything hurt her. Part of her almost thought it must be some kind of mind trick. No, it had been him, without a doubt. Scarred and altered as he was, AJ would have known him anywhere. After all, she had grown up with him.

What about Linda? What would happen if AJ found her? Would she end up like Jason at some point?

AJ moaned and held her bandaged head in both hands. Too many questions. Not enough answers.

* * *

_You've lived so much...Have you given up?_

* * *

He wandered aimlessly, not noticing his surroundings at all. This mission he had undertaken for Makuta was not turning out as he had expected it to. First there was the fact that Anna had appeared right in his path. And she had _recognized _him, in his new half-human, half-metal form. And then tried to help him, refusing to realize that he did not need help. He had needed her to leave him alone, to get out of his way. But she hadn't done that. Makuta had lost patience with her, and ordered him to get rid of her.

He had had no choice but to obey his master.

Why was he complaining, though? Makuta was a good master. He was stronger and more powerful. He could see with two eyes again. All he had to do in return was exact revenge on the Toa. But Anna's face would not leave him alone.

* * *

_"Does it feel like a trial?...Did you fall for the same empty answers again?_

* * *

He'd heard her gasp for breath, gasp out the name he hadn't heard in years but he knew it was his. He had simply thrown her aside like he would a useless, ratty old toy.

It should have been a relief to kill the Toa of Water. And at first, striking her down, beating mercilessly on her with his new, stronger arm and kicking her with his new leg, it had all been a great pleasure. Until he noticed that the Toa's voice sounded disturbingly like Anna's as she cried out, which reminded him that he had most likely killed a woman who had been vitally important to him in the past. Desperate to be rid of this, he had tossed the semi-conscious body into a nearby river and left the temple as quickly as he could.

_**Find another Toa,**_ Makuta whispered. **_Once you kill one with your own hands, everything will be fine._**

_Yes,_ he agreed._ That...that will make everything better._

He noticed a slight chill in the wind and followed it as a hunter follows a scent.

* * *

_"Vilify...Don't even try..."_

* * *

Tahu sighed and leaned against the outer wall of the hut, lost in thought. So that human was back. He remembered that figure he had seen watching his village and wanted to kick himself. Maybe if he had investigated that, they wouldn't be in this mess. Gali wouldn't be so badly hurt. He shook his head, pushed off from the wall, and started to wander away from the hut, not willing to deal with the two females inside.

"Tahu."

He stopped short and turned slowly to see Linda standing there with fists on her hips and a stony glare on her face. "Who. Attacked. Gali?"

Tahu sighed and looked away from her. Linda simply strode over to stand in front of him again and resumed her position. Tahu gently pushed past her and continued in the direction he had chosen. Linda struggled to keep up with him.

"It was the first human, wasn't it?"

Tahu stopped and looked at the human. "Gali said it was," he answered. "So yes."

Linda recalled how badly beaten Gali was. "How the he- How'd he do that?"

Tahu shrugged. "Gali said he had changed. She said something about him becoming half-biomechanical."

"Huh?"

Tahu rolled his eyes. "Every living thing on this island, humans excepted, is a mix between organic matter and mechanics. Gali said that half of the human's body was covered with armor, and one of his eyes was glowing."

The face appeared in Linda's mind again, and she bit her lip.

Tahu turned and walked back into the hut. Linda followed him inside and saw Gali stirring.

"Gali!" Linda exclaimed and hurried to her friend's side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm better than before," the Water Toa answered, sitting up with some effort.

"Take it easy," Tahu told her.

Gali smiled at him briefly but sobered. "Tahu, we need to call a meeting with the other Toa. They need to know what's happened."

Linda turned around and looked at him. Tahu frowned, but nodded. "Very well."

* * *

Well, there you go. Hope you liked it.

Thanks to Leveluplewa, InTheLight-Hija, TigerToa, Rocketfist, Toa Thau-Que, Mata Nui's Number One Fan, V Fan 217 (BTW, to your question, it would be a mix of both, with a few twists), and Dr. Edward Richtofen for reviews.

Please leave a review!


	19. Chapter 19

Yes, another chapter. It gave me some trouble, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I promised myself I would finish this before school started. Let's see, I published...what, 2 chapters during the summer? Wow, I... stink. Well, I guess this one makes three. I still stink.

Disclaimer: I only own Linda and Jason. I don't own Bionicle. Because I stink.

* * *

There he was. Skiing down the slopes, unaware of his hunter. He moved in. This time, nothing would stop him from achieving revenge.

Kopaka slowed to a stop. He had the feeling he was being watched. He turned in time to see a disturbing mix between human and Toa lunging toward him. He grabbed his blade and fired an ice blast that should have frozen him solid. The attacker dodged to the side and charged, black-clawed hand outstretched for Kopaka's mask. Kopaka retreated a step and lifted his blade in defense.

_Where did this creature come from?_ He wondered. His opponent brought down his armored fist on the Toa's blade, leaving a dent in it. Kopaka sent a jolt of cold though it into the creature's body. The creature recoiled with a snarling hiss. Kopaka willed a concentrated blizzard over his opponent and fled. No sense prolonging a fight with this...thing.

A large stone struck him in the shoulder and knocked him off-balance. Kopaka staggered and twisted around to see the creature approaching, refusing to be stopped by mere wind and snow. Kopaka's eyes widened and unleashed another blast of power, burying the enemy under a thick layer of snow and ice. Without another word, he skied away to make sure his villagers knew about this new threat.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Tahu asked Gali. The Toa of Water leaned heavily on Tahu's shoulder as she stood, testing her weight. She smiled up at him. "I'm fine," she assured him. Linda smirked.

"Sheesh, Tahu, you're worse than a human mother!"

Tahu rolled his eyes. "Keep this up and you're staying in Ga-Koro."

Linda's smirk vanished. "I apologize deeply and profusely, please forgive me?"

Tahu smirked. "You're forgiven. Just watch what you say."

"Tahu!" Gali chided gently, giving him a light rap on the shoulder.

"What?"

Linda let out a chuckle.

* * *

Tahu, Linda and Takua rode in a canoe to shore while Gali swam ahead. The minute the canoe struck sand, Linda launched herself out of the canoe onto the beach where she stretched out with a euphoric sigh.

"Ah, land," she sighed happily. "Sweet, sweet, solid land."

Gali raised an eyebrow as she stepped out of the ocean. "You sound a little too happy," Takua told her.

"I don't care."

"Come on, let's go," Takua grabbed her wrist and tried to drag her along.

"I'm going, I'm going," Linda mumbled, as she got up.

* * *

He staggered along, still shivering slightly from that pile of snow he'd wound up under. The midmorning sun was extremely welcome on what skin was still exposed. He struggled onward, being careful not to let Kopaka hear him. If he didn't hear anything, then he wouldn't turn around.

_Where are we going, Toa?_

He soon saw that the Toa were having a meeting. This...could be good.

His eyes took in the present Toa. There was the green one, brown one, black, and here came Tahu, with...

_Oh, no._

Gali was still alive. And looking a good deal better than before. This was very bad. He still had to kill her. A third figure caught his eye.

They had brought the human girl with her.

His master was interested. He could sense it. She could be altered, like him, but even better.

_**Bring her to me.**_

_Yes, master._

* * *

Linda wondered why she had wanted to come along. Beyond Pohatu's friendly smile and nod and Lewa's enthusiastic waving at her until she finally waved back, it was clear she was going to go unnoticed this time. There was really no point in her being here.

She turned and walked a few steps away. Maybe she could try drawing something again. Careful to stay within earshot of the Toa, she looked around for a place to sit that wasn't covered in mud. She spotted a rock near a tree and moved over to sit on it.

A rough, fleshy hand slapped over her mouth, and a hard metal arm grabbed her around her torso.

* * *

Onua turned sharply. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tahu asked.

"That sound. It sounded like a scream or something."

The Toa went silent and listened closely. After a moment, branches snapped and something grunted.

Gali looked around, unnerved, and noticed something. "Where's Linda?"

* * *

Linda kicked and squirmed frantically, screaming behind her captor's hand and trying to bite it. Her arms were trapped by the armored arm. She strained to glimpse who had grabbed her, and it hit her.

The hand over her mouth was a human hand.

The arm holding her off the ground was biomechanical.

_I'm dead._

* * *

He grunted as the girl continued to thrash and kick. If he could get her to Makuta's lair, she would make a _very_ good servant for Makuta, if her current behavior was any indication of her usual ferocity.

She slipped slightly in his grip, and he growled in irritation.

"Please...hold...still," he snarled, shifting his grip and hoisting a few inches off the ground. The girl simply thrashed even more violently and let out another muffled scream.

He sighed, tightened his grip, and kept moving. The tunnel to Makuta's lair wasn't too far; he could make it.

* * *

Lewa slipped through the foliage quickly and quietly, following the sounds of heavy footsteps. He peered through some branches and spotted Linda, thrashing and kicking wildly in the grasp of a strange creature. Half-human, half-biomechanical... he fit the description Gali had given.

His back was turned to the Toa. Lewa lunged, hooking one arm around the human's neck and pulling back. The human's grip loosened enough, and Linda sprinted off.

The human drove his fist into Lewa's midsection, forcing the Toa to back off. Lewa steadied himself enough to kick at the human's still-unarmored shoulder and followed up with a blow to the head. When the human recovered, both the girl and the Toa were gone.

* * *

Linda stopped running for a second to catch her breath and try to figure out where she was going. She looked around. _Let's see...Trees, rocks, flowers, mud...no guy trying to kidnap me. Also no Toa. Or anything. So, for all intents and purposes..._

_I'm still dead._

Branches rustled somewhere behind her. Linda turned to see, just in time to get a good solid whack to the ribs.

Someone had grabbed her and was now flying through the air with her in tow. Seeing no other options, she clung to him tightly. To her great relief, her fingers only felt metal armor. She cracked one eye open – funny, she didn't remember closing her eyes – and saw green armor.

"Lewa?" she asked.

Lewa landed on a sturdy limb and set her down near the trunk of the tree. He grasped her shoulders tightly and looked directly into her eyes. "Stay-wait here where he can't snatch-get you. The other Toa and I will handle the human-thing."

He jumped off the limb, grabbed a vine in midair, and swung away before she could say anything.

* * *

Lewa swung and leaped through the trees, retracing his steps from his brief tangle before and scanning the ground below for a glimpse of black armor.

"**LEWAAAAA!"**

The Toa of Air stopped short and turned to face the source of the cry. What could she be so panic-worried about?

"**LEWA, HELP!"**

He launched into the air again, going the way he had come.

* * *

Linda frantically debated her choices. She could stay where she was, and wait for Lewa to show up...or she could try to run.

Neither option seemed very workable at the moment.

On the one hand, she was in a TREE. There are not very many escape routes available to one when one is in a tree and not a bird or monkey.

On the other hand, the cyborg psycho had found her and was now quickly climbing said tree. A little too quickly.

She took a deep breath and screamed for Lewa again. He was now maybe halfway to her branch. At this rate, she would have no choice but to at least try to get away from him on her own.

He was three-quarters of the way up now. Way too close.

She carefully scooted along the branch, crouching down and gripping the limb with her hands. She moved as far out as she dared and looked over her shoulder. There was another tree branch fairly close by. If she could jump to it, she would probably be safe.

Lewa reached the tree where he had left Linda in time to see the human-thing pull himself onto the same branch as Linda, who had jumped. His eyes widened in horror as he watched her sail through the air and strike the branch she had been aiming for. She had hit it with her midsection and curled the rest of her body around it. With a sigh of relief, Lewa prepared to engage the other human.

* * *

Linda clung to the branch, muscles aching and heart pounding, while gusts of wind howled around her. At the moment, her arms and abdomen were the only things keeping her from falling. She shifted her left arm, and her fingers slipped an inch. With a yelp, she clung more tightly, trying to calm herself down. If she could just get to a safer position...

Taking a deep breath, she struggled to pull herself more on top of the branch. She managed maybe a couple inches. She tried to hook one leg over the the branch, but she couldn't get her knee high enough. She tried to move one of her hands again. She didn't slip as much as last time. If she could just-

"KRAAAA!"

"AGH!"

Some huge bird squawked and flapped repeatedly in her face. She swung her arm around wildly, trying to scare it off, slipping farther in the process.

The next thing she knew, she had nothing but air in her grasp.

* * *

Lewa's fight with the human stopped short at the sound of a scream. He turned quickly to see that Linda was falling.

"Linda!"

He summoned a blast of wind to slow her fall, but it wasn't enough. Linda hit the ground with a dull thud.

The other human forgotten, Lewa jumped down, using his mask of levitation to slow his fall enough to land safely, and knelt down to get a good look at her condition. The human girl lay still on the ground, sunk an inch into the swampy ground from her impact, eyes still half-open.

_Tahu is going to killburn me._

* * *

He slowly climbed back down the tree, horribly disappointed with the day. He had hoped to finally kill one of the Toa, or at least bring the girl to Makuta like he had asked. But he had only managed to wound the Air Toa a little, and now the girl had fallen from a tree. Judging from the Toa's reaction, she had gotten hurt in the process.

_I hope she's alright... No, she'll be fine. The Toa will care for her._

He shook his head in shock. How did he know that? He was trying to kill the Toa. Why should he trust that a human would be safe in his enemy's hands? This didn't make sense.

He dropped the rest of the way down, troubled. Why was he even doing this? Yes, he wanted revenge, but...he was starting to remember something...

_I was...I am Makuta's humble servant. I must not question Makuta._

He walked away He needed to rest and heal. Tomorrow, he would resume his quest for revenge. Maybe even sooner, if Makuta would be willing to intervene.

* * *

Eyup. I am indeed a horrible person. Please don't hate me.

I'll try to finish the next one a little more quickly. At least get a lot of it done before I start classes and busyness.

Reviews are welcomed with cake, confetti, and hugs.


	20. Chapter 20

I'm mostly pretty happy with this one. Some of it I'm not too sure about, but...eh.

Thanks to levelupleafeon, Midori Hotaru, InTheLight-Hija, TigerToa, MN#1F, Rocketfist, Neelh, Ed, SamanthaMaxisLover, SouleiLuna, and precious92 for reviewing. :)

Disclaimer: We've been through this.

* * *

A.J. moaned as she woke up from her nap. Turaga Matau would not let her move or do anything to help pass the time, so all she could do was let her mind wander, and sleep. She looked up and saw that it was just starting to get dark.

Outside, a Matoran announced that Toa Lewa had returned. A.J. sighed and sat up slowly.

"Another human, Toa?"

_What?_

She scrambled to her feet and staggered to the doorway, where she clung to the side of the door and cursed the Turaga for not letting her walk around a little more often. Toa Lewa was walking through the village carrying something that looked like a limp human in his arms. All AJ could make out was that it seemed to be female, and she hadn't been changed like Jason had.

As the Toa walked past, she cried out, "Wait!"

Lewa paused and looked at her in surprise. "What?"

A.J. took a deep breath. "I'm a physician. I can take care of her. Let me go with you."

Lewa paused, eyed her for a moment, looked down at the girl, then nodded. "Alright-fine. Come on."

A.J. followed the Toa to his hut, where he laid the girl on his pallet. She stepped forward and checked the girl's pulse and breathing. Faint, but she was alive. "What happened?"

"She slipped-fell."

A.J. looked down at the bruised, scarred form. "From what? A tree?"

"Yes," the Toa answered in a strangely small voice.

AJ glanced up at him, then returned her attention to the girl, carefully testing her limbs for injuries. "How did she get up in it?" she asked, more out of curiosity than any real need to know.

"Well, she was run-fleeing from this...human-thing."

"Human-'thing'?"

"Well, he used to be all human...but then he disappeared, and now he's..."

A.J.'s throat closed. "He's what?" she barely choked out.

"Well, he's still human, but...half not."

A.J. gasped. Jason. It had to be. She shook her head and returned her attention to the girl. "You didn't answer my first question."

"Oh, I left-put her in the tree. I thought-believed she'd be safe there."

"But she wasn't."

"He climbed the tree. She was trying to get away." Lewa looked away. "Do you thinkknow if she'll be okayfine?"

A.J. sighed. "She'll probably live. I don't know if her brain is damaged or not, but her pulse and breathing are good, and none of her bones are broken."

Lewa blinked and nodded. "Um...good."

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed, then Lewa finally blurted something about meeting others and left before A.J. could say anything.

A.J. sighed again and sat on the edge of the pallet, looking at the girl. This had to be Linda. She was certain of it.

Loud voices rose above the constant chatter of the Matoran. One was Lewa's, in conversation with someone with a slightly deeper voice.

"Where is she? Is she alright?"

"Ah...the human-lady said she would be, but-"

"Who?"

"Oh, I found another human in the jungle. She hit her head on a rock, and..."

His voice faded into the background as A.J.'s mind wandered. A blue-masked Matoran peered in, saw her, and hesitantly stepped inside. "It's alright," she murmured. "I won't bite."

The Matoran walked over to the pallet and looked at the girl. A.J. observed that the rest of his body was mostly red and wondered when he had come to the village. He dropped a bag on the floor next to the pallet and started to walk out before turning and asking, "Is she going to be okay?"

AJ paused, then nodded, "I think she will."

The Matoran smiled and left.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of Lewa and two other figures his height, one red and broad-shouldered, the other blue and slender.

* * *

Tahu stopped and stared at the new human. She was fully grown, wearing clothes much like Linda's without all the rips. Her hair was a lighter color, with a fringe of it dangling over her eyes and the plant-fiber bandage wrapped over her brow. She turned away, focusing on Linda, and Tahu turned his attention to her as well.

She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Tahu sighed and turned to leave. Gali followed after a moment, while Lewa stayed inside with the two humans.

Tahu paced with his arms crossed, scowling. "It doesn't make sense," he muttered. "Why would he go after Linda? He's probably never even seen her before."

Gali shrugged. "Maybe he's not the one who wanted Linda," she murmured. "Maybe it was..."

"Makuta?" Tahu finished uncertainly. "He's serving Makuta?" That explained a lot, like how he had suddenly gotten so strong and where he had gotten the armor. "But what could Makuta want her for?"

Gali frowned and looked back at the hut. "I don't know..."

* * *

The night passed slowly for the Toa and human. Lewa officially introduced A.J. to Gali and Tahu, but there wasn't much to be said otherwise. The Toa took shifts between watching Linda, keeping watch for the shadow cyborg or the other Toa, and resting, while A.J. cleaned and bandaged Linda's wounds before succumbing to sleep, resting her head on her folded arms on the side of the pallet.

Lewa was enjoying a peaceful dream when Tahu shook him awake and wordlessly pointed him toward his own hut. Lewa reluctantly took his post by his pallet and watched as the two humans slept.

He noticed Linda's eyes darting beneath her eyelids. _What are you dream-seeing?_ He wondered. Maybe she was dreaming about her past, whatever had happened in it. Maybe she was dreaming about the Matoran, or the Toa. Maybe she was dreaming about the human-thing. He felt another wave of guilt at the thought. He liked the girl, and hated that he hadn't been able to prevent her getting hurt. He tentatively reached out to touch a lock of Linda's hair. To his relief, she gave no sign of feeling his touch, and he started to fiddle with the strange substance between his fingers. It had lots of knots and tangles, and in the sparse light, he could see that clumps of mud from the swamp clung to it. He couldn't really see the purpose of it, besides the fact that it looked nice.

Humans were such bizarre creatures, Lewa mused, with their flesh-covered bodies, their insistence on covering themselves with cloth, and their liquidlike, glassy eyes that didn't glow. The memory of the first time he saw the first human still sent chills through him. But Linda...maybe it was just that he'd gotten used to seeing humans in general, or that he knew she was on their side and had never had any intention of harming the Matoran, or anything else, but Lewa actually thought Linda was...kind of pretty. For a human, at least.

* * *

Linda let out a weak moan. She was exhausted, and her body hurt. She shifted slightly and heard a faint _rustle_.

_Where am I? It can't be Ta-Koro, there aren't any plants there, and besides it's not hot enough here._

She opened her eyes to see sunlight shining through what looked like a cloth woven from vines. _Eyup. Definitely not Ta-Koro._

She pushed herself up onto her elbows and took in her surroundings. She was in a large hut made of plant matter, furnished with a few wood carvings of the Toa and what she assumed was Mata Nui wildlife, a fine net hanging from the ceiling and holding some sort of glowing bugs, and a bed, which Linda was lying on.

"Linda? Are you awake?" The girl jumped slightly and turned to see a woman sitting on the edge of the bed. Linda's heart leaped into her throat and she sat fully upright.

"A.J.?" she gasped.

A.J. smiled. "Yes, it's me."

Linda let out a squeal and threw her arms around her friend's neck. "I missed you!"

A.J. returned the embrace. "I missed you, too. I'm so glad you're alright." She pulled away, set her hands on Linda's shoulders and suddenly frowned, "What happened to your face?"

"Wha-? Oh," Linda felt the claw-marks on her cheek. "I ran into a... an ash bear the day I, uh, left." She turned to look her friend in the eye, and noticed something...off. "Are...are _you_ alright?"

A.J. blinked, and Linda noticed that her eyes seemed to stare at something over her shoulder and were in a constant slight squint. "Is something wrong with your eyes?"

A.J. sighed and gave a nod. "Yes...I think there is."

"What happened?"

A.J. turned away and faced the door. "I went out looking for you a while ago, and... I banged my head on a rock. It knocked me out, and when I woke up...I couldn't see as clearly as I used to. It...hasn't gotten much better."

Linda felt a strange stab of emotion and shifted uncomfortably. "So, uh...how long have I been out?"

A.J. shrugged. "Toa Lewa brought you here last evening, and I think it's about mid-morning now. So I would say about twelve hours."

"Hn," Linda grunted, staring at the floor. Then she looked up at A.J. "I'm just curious, but do you know about the...other human?"

A.J. hesitated for some time, then nodded. "Yes. Lewa said he was protecting you from him."

"Have you ever...seen him?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm...just curious, I guess. So have you?"

"...Yes, I saw him. Spoke with him, actually."

"Really? What did you say? What did he do?"

"He...kept trying to get me to leave him alone. He seemed to be afraid of something. And I was trying to get him to let me take care of his injuries. I wanted to help him."

"What happened?"

"He...changed suddenly. I still can't understand it. One minute he was more frightened and vulnerable than I'd ever seen him, the next, he was a monster. He picked me up and threw me aside, and that's when I hit my head."

"Wait...more frightened than you'd ever seen him?" Linda repeated. "You _knew _him?"

A.J.'s voice quivered as she answered, "He was...He's my little brother."


End file.
